Peter: Cowardly and Afraid

This is an uncomfortable story for many reasons because we wonder how Peter, who is so brave and heroic just earlier in the evening, telling Jesus that he is even willing to die for him, how Peter could so quickly turn around and allow fear to cause him to deny even knowing Jesus. This story is uncomfortable because many of us have experienced those times when we’re been real quiet about being a follower of Jesus because we didn’t really want the people we were with know we are Christians. There are a lot of reasons, sometimes it’s fear, sometimes we’re uncomfortable because of what we might be doing or where we might be, or perhaps it’s because of who we are with.

It’s easy to be brave about following Jesus when we know there will be no push back, it’s a little more challenging if we think we might get some push back about being Christian. Personally, my most uncomfortable times are when people are criticizing Christians for being close-minded, bigoted, angry, and even hate-filled because no matter what I say, I know I will be unlikely to change their minds. It’s takes time to show them that I work hard at trying to shape my life around Jesus’ command to love God with everything I am and have and to love everyone deeply.

We want to be strong and brave, to be heroes, at least most guys do, that’s why so many people love the Avenger movies, Batman and other superhero movies. I want to make a difference wherever God puts me and make our community a better healthier place to live. This is why our kids love the Bible stories of David and Goliath, of Daniel in the lion’s den, or of Daniel’s three friends thrown into the fiery furnace because they’re going to be faithful to God no matter what. But the reality is that, like Peter, we often allow fear to keep us from standing for Jesus all the time and everywhere.

Peter’s not even challenged hard about his relationship with Jesus. A servant girl comes up to him and says, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” There’s no threat here, no challenge, just a statement of fact. A second servant girl mentions to others around a fire that Peter was with Jesus and both times Peter denies it. A little later some others mentioned that Peter must be one of the followers of Jesus because of his accent, and in fear Peter denies this a third time. You know the story; a rooster crows and Peter remembers that Jesus had said that’s exactly what he would do. These are people with little influence and still Peter reacts out of fear.   

Fear is still one of the ways Satan keeps us from being a powerful life changing presence in our communities. Fear keeps us from dreaming for Jesus, keeps us focusing on what we don’t have instead of remembering that everything in this universe belongs to God. I’ve been asked, “What does a healthy vibrant church look like?” Over the years I’ve come to see that a healthy vibrant church is one that dreams big dreams for Jesus, has a vision for being a strong life changing presence in the community because Jesus loves them. A church with people who dream of Jesus doing powerful things in the world are dangerous to Satan so he tries to take away the dreams and visions by getting us to focus on reality and keep things safe. Satan uses fear to keep God’s kingdom from growing; fear of change, fear of failure, fear of the world around us, fear of the unknown.

Fear leads to doubting Jesus when he says that we will do even more than he did in John 14, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” The entire time Jesus was here in earth, Jesus is inviting people to repent and believe because the kingdom of heaven is near, and then shows how through his teaching, life and miracles. As part of doing even greater things, Jesus tells his followers that their mission in life is to go and make disciples, a mission shaped by love for God and our neighbours. When we live in Jesus’ love for our community, people react to us with surprise and they wonder why, especially in a time when so many people no longer have a relationship with Jesus.

This is why Peter, the very Peter who was afraid and denied Jesus, later tells followers of Jesus in the area we now call Turkey, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” Peter points us to Jesus and he’s honest when he says that there will be times when we’ll suffer for what is right, for standing up as followers of Jesus, for sharing our faith and making inviting others to follow Jesus a normal part of our life. But Peter reminds us to keep on worshiping Jesus as our Lord, keep trusting Jesus and to make sure we’re able to tell people why we are followers of Jesus, why we willing face suffering, ridicule, and still focus on blessing our community.

We keep trusting Jesus because we know how much he loves us. We’re sinners. We don’t keep Jesus’ command to love God with everything we have and are and we don’t love our neighbours as ourselves. We don’t measure up to who God has created us to be. Because God is perfect and just, he can’t accept us the way we are, but he loves us too much to let us go, so Jesus comes to take our sin to the cross and the grave to make us right with God. Jesus is able to do this because he is completely God and completely human. But Jesus comes to bring healing and hope to the world, to establish the church to be his presence, to bring renewal in our lives and communities that point us to the kingdom of heaven. Our lives reflect the character of Jesus, the love and compassion of Jesus, the power of Jesus to stand against the brokenness and wrong in the world and still live out of love.

Jesus’ love is perfect and his love is what gives us the courage we need to stand up as his disciples no matter what’s going on around us. John reminds us, ^“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” When you love someone, if they’re in a dangerous situation, you don’t even think about getting hurt yourself, you jump in to help. I remember coming across a car accident and how the father, in spite of the flames, was wrestling with the car door to get his son out of the back seat where he was trapped. The father never even considered standing back because of the danger of the flames, he rushed to save his son because of his love for him, there was no fear because of his love.

Trusting in Jesus’ love and choosing love as our approach to others drives out the fear that Satan wants us to focus on and nurture in our hearts. Jesus’ love gives courage and energy to create a better world where everyone knows Jesus and understands Jesus can change their life if they accept him as their Lord. Satan has always underestimated the power of Jesus’ love and how it can change the world. Churches need work at creating ways to bless our communities and it will involve change, creating new opportunities, and imagining new ways of being in our communities. Dreams need to be encouraged and shared, visions need to be cast of making a deep difference in our communities, conversations need to happen, and opportunities will raise their heads for followers of Jesus to make a difference because of their commitment to Jesus and who Jesus is calling us to be.

Jesus always provides exciting ways of moving forward, but it comes with a need for a deep commitment to making more disciples, to doing the hard work needed surrounded and supported by much prayer. When fear and anxiety creep in, Peter encourages you to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Exodus 4 Moses Uncertain and Unwilling

It’s important to stop and reflect on your relationship with Jesus regularly. Are you still trying to figure out who Jesus is, or maybe you believe in Jesus but you’re still trying to figure out what that means in your life. Have you come to the place where your faith is growing but you still like having control in your life, so it’s like Jesus is the passenger in your car while you drive or hopefully your relationship with Jesus is like in the Carrie Underwood song where Jesus has the wheel and you’re trusting him completely on where he’s leading you and who he’s calling you to be as his follower.  Ask yourself, “Is there anything I would tell Jesus ‘No’ to?” This can give you some insight into where you’re at with Jesus.
I remember when I was 18 that Pastor Nutma suggested to me that I should consider going into ministry and I laughed. How can God use a high school dropout, a navy vagabond, a pretty rough and coarse guy as a pastor. No way. I didn’t qualify and I didn’t want to, I’d seen how some people treated some of our pastors, so why would I want to experience the same thing. Deep down it was about trusting Jesus. I’d seen a lot of hurt, a lot of rotten things happen, plenty of unfairness and I often couldn’t see or understand where Jesus was or why he would allow unfair stuff to keep on happening.
Moses is kind of in that spot. Moses ran away from Egypt because he had tried to protect on of his people from a brutal slave master, but God hears the groans of the people and their cries for help and is concerned for them. God has just met Moses by grabbing his attention through a burning bush that was burning up. He introduces himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God has been rather quiet the past 400 plus years, but now shows up to tell Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh to let the Jewish people go free and leave. This will not make Pharaoh happy; the Jewish people are his slaves and workforce for all the work the Egyptians didn’t want to do.
Moses isn’t so sure he wants to do this. Look at Moses’ life: he’s put in a small boat in the Nile shortly after birth, taken by an Egyptian princess, raised in the Egyptian palace by Pharaoh’s daughter and yet still feels a connection to his people and probably subtle racism by the Egyptian court, but when he goes to defend a Hebrew slave and kills a guard in order to protect him, the Hebrews want nothing to do with him, so Moses ends up taking care of sheep for 40 years and now God tells him to go back to Pharaoh, probably his former uncle and tell him to let the Hebrews go. Then to top it off, God tells Moses, “I’m going to harden Pharaoh’s heart so he’ll say no but go and tell him anyway to let my people go.” An impossible task from a God who has been really quiet for over 400 years and where was God while all this other stuff was going on in Moses’ life.
Moses comes up with a bunch of excuses for not accepting this call from God, “What if they don’t listen to me or believe me, what if they say that you never really came to me and think I’m crazy?” Why all the excuses? I think because Moses isn’t sure he really trusts God, he’s not convinced that God is going to show up when things get tough, and Moses has no real desire to put himself in danger for people who probably aren’t going to believe him anyway. God gives Moses 3 signs, turning Moses’ staff into a snake and back into a staff again, tells Moses to put his hand in his cloak and the skin turns leprous and God restores it again, and finally God tells Moses that should the people not believe, to pour water on the ground and God will turn it into blood. But Moses isn’t convinced, “I’ve never been eloquent, I’m slow of speech.” It doesn’t matter if Moses actually has speech issues, it’s basically just an excuse to not do what God is telling him to do.
There are so many people who are crying out in the night, not sure of how they are going to get through the next while. They don’t even know if there is anyone out there who sees or hears them as their chains wrap around them tighter and tighter. Perhaps their families are hurting, or they’re slaves to their desires and addictions, or poverty or illness, or maybe it’s hopelessness that’s filled their lives. God hears their cries, he sees their situations and he calls us to help them find freedom from the chains that hold them, he calls us to go to help them find the freedom that can be found in following Jesus.
What are some of the excuses you’ve used for not paying attention to Jesus’ call to go make disciples? You’ve heard some of mine, I was a high school drop out, navy vagabond. When the call into ministry came back in my early 30s, my excuses changed, “I can’t afford it because I have a family now, my wife married a baker, not a pastor, it will take 8 years of schooling.” But there were also the memories of stressed out pastors leaving, of having roast pastor for Sunday lunch, and my parents would be unhappy because I would be taking away Joyce and the grandkids. But even before being called into ministry, I remember being challenged by Pastor Gerrit to share my faith in Jesus with people in my life and show them what it means to follow Jesus and I came up with excuses like, “I don’t know what to say, what if they have questions I can’t answer, I’m afraid, you never taught me what to say, I don’t want to, it’s not worth the hassle.”
Pastor Gerrit was gentle but firm, he told me I didn’t trust Jesus enough, I was too concerned about myself and not enough about the people Jesus cares for. He told me Jesus will give me what I need to share my faith. The trust comes because of Jesus’ great love for me and the people around me, love that leads him to the cross to make things new, to bring new life into my life and into the lives of the people around me by offering forgiveness and grace and the gift of eternal life with Jesus. Jesus has chosen us to share this great love with the world, and through living out this love, changing our communities into little kingdoms of heaven that keep growing and spreading. Moses was chosen to bring new life for his people, to bring hope by letting the Jews know God hears them and is starting a new work in the world through them, just like Jesus uses us today.
Jesus doesn’t send us without any help. After his resurrection, Jesus returned to heaven to send his Spirit who reminds us of Jesus’ teaching, gives us the words to say, guides us and helps us recognize what Jesus is already doing so we can join him in his work of renewing this world; partnering with us in making new disciples and deeper disciples. We can trust Jesus to give us what we need to continue his work here. When Stephen in Acts 7 testifies before the religious leaders about what God is doing he talks about Moses, “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Moses had a hard time trusting, but God comes through, just as Jesus comes through for us. It doesn’t mean everything will go the way we want it to, it doesn’t mean life is always easy when we trust his way for us; it does mean that Jesus can and will do amazing things through us to save and bless others when we trust him completely and place him in the driver’s seat of our lives.

2 Corinthians 4 Jars of Clay

There are many people in the Bible with many moral and faith issues whom God uses to accomplish his plans in order to save his people. These are ordinary people who struggle with sin, depression, doubt, fear, lack of faith and more and yet because of who they are, God used them to bring his son Jesus into the world so that Jesus could take our sin and punishment to the cross because we’re unable to make ourselves acceptable to God, no matter how hard we try. Jesus loves us and offers us forgiveness and eternal life with himself and calls us to follow him and trust in him alone, to obey his call on our lives. The amazing thing is that Jesus knows that we will mess up again and again, and still he chooses us to build the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth, an economic and political center in Jesus’ time. Just before this passage, Paul calls them “a letter from Jesus written by the Holy Spirit in their lives for the people of Corinth,” just like we’re letters from Jesus written to the people here. Who they are, who we are, is important because it’s through who we are as ordinary people that Jesus shines light and hope into the world. The thing that always blows my mind is that Jesus uses plain ordinary people like us to carry out his plans and build his kingdom here. Paul now moves to a different image to describe who we are, the image of people as clay jars where God is the potter who creates and shapes us.

Paul talks about not losing heart. Jesus is the treasure, the glory of God’s glory that lives us through his Spirit. Yet this doesn’t mean that life’s always easy. Allowing Jesus to shape our lives, to be his light to the world often comes at a cost. Paul is up-front about the cost of following Jesus, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

Paul uses the image of jars of clay to describe us. Jars of clay are common, ordinary and yet extremely useful for storing almost anything, including treasure, though there are some which are beautiful pieces of art. Just like life, when you’re working with pottery, things don’t always turn out as expected, but even these can be used to create beauty when they’re broken up and then used in creating mosaic tiles or art pieces. Even the pieces that are left over and seem useless can be broken up and placed in the bottom of planting pots to help with drainage or placed on pathways to create variety.

Clay jars, while they are durable, are also vulnerable to cracking and being broken. That means many of us/most of us are likely to be cracked pots in one way or another. There are many things in life that can crack us. Paul acknowledges that we can feel hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted and even struck down at times, creating cracks, sometimes painful cracks in our lives. Paul wants us to understand that Jesus gives us strength in life and that whatever we accomplish comes from him and not ourselves. When the times come when we wonder how we can go on because of loss, hurt, struggle, betrayal, and sin, we can be assured that because of Jesus, we’re not crushed, not consumed or in complete despair because he never abandons us nor allows us to be destroyed.

The picture of God shaping his people as a potter shapes clay is common in the Bible. One of the clearest image comes from Jeremiah 18, “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.” God is the creator, an artist and he takes pots that are mishapen and reworks them into new jars to be used to store his treasure of grace, the treasure of Jesus’ Spirit and the glory of the kingdom of heaven. Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The events of our lives shape us, and when they create too much brokenness in us, Jesus comes offering healing and hope; the potter reforming the clay again, echoing Isaiah 64:8 “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” One of the big cracks in my jar is anger and depression. my wife Joyce can tell you that she has seldom seen me express really deep anger because God has led people into my life who offered hope, who helped my see the importance of controlling my anger by focusing on Jesus and how he is able to give me the ability to change my perspective on things so that my anger is more manageable. They taught me to recognize and focus on the blessings all around me and to live out of a spirit of gratitude. My cracks have been filled in, though they are still there, just not as prominent anymore thanks to Jesus and the people he has placed in my life.

The struggles in life shape us so that not one of us is like the person next to you because our life experiences are different. Because each of us is different, just like each clay jar is unique, Jesus is able to use these differences to be a blessing to different people around us. Our cracks can actually be how Jesus uses us to reach others to provide hope and guide them into a relationship with Jesus. As Paul writes at the beginning of his letter, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

My sister died in a car accident at 18, after the funeral one of the women in the church came up to mom and simply hugged her. She was the mother of a classmate of mine who had died in a car accident with a train when we were 18 years old. She understood the suffering my mom was going through and could comfort her in a way that no one else could. As Paul says, our nicks and cracks help us comfort others with similar cracks because we’ve experienced Jesus’ comfort during our suffering and can now offer Jesus’ comfort to others. It’s like someone who has gone through a divorce can walk alongside someone going through a divorce in a way that I could not. But I can walk alongside someone whose child has cut or attempted suicide because Joyce and I walked that pain with a couple of our children and we understand the fear, guilt, and horror of getting the call from the police to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

We’re all cracked pots in one way or another and Jesus uses our cracks to bless others by allowing him to shine through us, to bring healing by using us as his hands, voice and arms if we allow him to do so. You can be how God reshapes someone else’s soul and heart if you open your life to allowing Jesus to use you. You can change another person’s life, you can change a community; you have that power because of Jesus. We all carry the life of Jesus in us because of the resurrection, this is the hope we offer, of new life, of a changed reality because of Jesus’ love. “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Samuel 11 David: Lust and the Murderer

My #MeToo story. I had a really good husband and he was close friends with our King David, we even lived next door to the palace. Uriah, my husband was in the military and one spring he went off to lead his men against some of our enemies, but the king, his friend stayed home for this campaign. Usually the king would lead his men, this is why they admired him so much, but this time King David didn’t. No one thought much of it, but one afternoon I went to bath on the roof of our home because it was warm out and I had just finished my time of the month. An hour later a messenger came from the king to come to the palace. Then I discovered that he had watched me bath. I felt violated that he had disrespected me this way.

Then it became much worse, it took me into his private chambers and told me to undress so he could see me unclothed again. I began to cry, but he insisted and after I was undressed he took me to his bed and began touching me all over, and then he slept with me. I felt so ashamed and dirty because the only man who had ever touched me before was my husband, and now the man that me husband admired and considered a close friend had just violated me. But this isn’t the end of the story, I became pregnant because of what the king had done to me and I’m not sure about everything that happened next, but the story ends with my dear husband Uriah dead and the king claiming me as another one of his wives after the official time of mourning was over. What makes some men look at us as just things to use?

David and Bathsheba, a story of sex and power, of deep betrayal and callous disregard of other’s feelings and rights. This is a story of the abuse of power and betrayal of the most intimate kind, a story of David being a king just like the kings of the nations around him, focusing on his wants and desires instead of his people and who God calls him to be. David creates huge amounts of hurt and damage to Bathsheba and Uriah, but also severely damages his position as king and in his relationship to God. We focus on Bathsheba, because we’ve turned this story into some kind of a twisted love story because Bathsheba becomes the mother of future King Solomon, because Jesus comes from the line of David and Bathsheba, but it’s no love story, it’s a story about a king with deep flaws, with large cracks in who he is. It’s about abusing trust, something that is way too common, even today. Some people believe that they are so special that they can do whatever they want to anyone they want and it’s alright because it’s all about them.

Jewish rabbis teach that this is a story that contrasts the immoral and flawed King David with the moral and upright man of strong character Uriah. David has slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife and now she is pregnant and David is faced with a decision: what do I do now? David decides to try to hide what he’s done and calls Uriah home from the battlefield. David hopes to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba so that everything can be hidden. Now Uriah is no simple soldier, he is one of David’s 30 mighty warriors, heroes who stuck with David even during his time of exile and persecution by King Saul. These are the warriors who were willing to risk their own lives so David could become king. Uriah is such a trusted warrior and friend that his home is next to the king’s palace, a place of honour and respect.

This is where the contrast comes: David betrayed Uriah and now tries to hide his sin. He calls Uriah home to get a report on the men and how the war is going, and then encourages Uriah to spend the night with his wife. The expression, “wash your feet” meant sleeping with his wife, but Uriah sleeps with the servants because of his loyalty to his men in the field. When David asks him why he didn’t spend time with Bathsheba, Uriah says to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” David then gets Uriah drunk to weaken his loyalty to his men, but Uriah drunk still has more principles and a better character than David and in the evening Uriah sleeps again on his mat among the servants; he doesn’t go home. Now David arranges with Joab, his field commander, to make sure that Uriah gets killed in one of the battles because Uriah’s faithfulness to his men is too strong. This is in contrast to David’s lack of loyalty to him. David’s response when Joab lets him know that Uriah died in battle is basically, “Ah well, these things happen.” A callous cruel response. The problem is that these things don’t just happen, David planned it all out.

This is one of those stories that echoes forward to Jesus and one of the echoes is how he too was betrayed by someone close to him, one of his twelve disciples Judas who also deliberately planned out a betrayal of Jesus because Jesus wasn’t acting how Judas wanted him to, to claim the throne of David in Jerusalem. This leads Jesus to the cross, where Jesus claims kingship over all creation as he defeats death itself in order to bring healing and wholeness into creation again. Jesus' kingship is one of justice and hope, of healing and faithfulness rather than betrayal and hurt. The cross brings forgiveness, even for betrayals such as David’s and Judas’. But it’s not a cheap or easy forgiveness where we just say, “Oops, sorry, won’t do that again.”

God sends the prophet Nathan to confront David with what he’s done and who he’s becoming. It’s not just the extreme wrong that David has done, it’s about how what he did shows who David has become: a king in the image of other earthly kings instead of becoming like the king of heaven and earth who has called his followers to love him above everything else, and to love his neighbour as himself, and to show mercy, fight for justice and to walk humbly with God. When David’s confronted with who he’s become and how he’s destroyed the lives of people he’s called to protect, David is changed, he confesses, and more importantly, he repents, he changes and begins working on becoming who God has called him to be.

The cross calls us to confession and repentance, to a searching of our souls and hearts to see how we might have also betrayed others, hurt others because we want to be gods of our own lives, focusing on our own wants and desires instead of Jesus’ call to follow him and partner with him so that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. The cross confronts us and calls us to focus on our character, on who we are and whether we allow what we say we believe about Jesus to actually shape who we are as his followers. The cross also brings forgiveness and grace for the sinner and healing to the one sinned against. 

Psalm 51 is David’s confession and reveals his repentant heart. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge… you desired faithfulness even in the womb; taught me wisdom in that secret place…  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me… Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you… My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

Faith is about our beliefs about Jesus actually being lived out. Faith is not just knowledge, it’s about how our knowledge of Jesus and the relationship we have with Jesus shapes our character and our relationships; ultimately it comes down to obedience in becoming who Jesus calls us to be as his followers: people shaped by grace, mercy, forgiveness, desiring justice, fighting against oppression within our cultures, creating communities of health where people are able to flourish; all summed up in Jesus’ command to love God above everything and to love our neighbour as ourselves. It's about humility and working towards reconciliation with those we've hurt, admitting our fault and asking for forgiveness. It may not come, depending on how much you have hurt, but the effort needs to be made and the person hurt is the one who sets the boundaries then. 

It’s about loving our neighbours so much we want them to have a relationship with Jesus too because we believe that they will be better off knowing Jesus, that they can find healing and hope from Jesus. Jesus went to the cross so that one day when he returns there will be no need for such a movement, but he has placed us here to begin to create that place right now, right here where he has placed us as his church, his bride.

Genesis 38 Tamar: All Honour Sacrificed

Life can be messy and chaotic. You might wonder why God would be bothered to get involved in the mess our lives can sometimes be. Often the messiness comes because we walk our own journey without really including God in it. Yet God works in our messiness for his own plans. I’ve been blessed to see lives here impacted by hearing of God’s love and acceptance and Jesus’ invitation to follow him.   

Judah walks his own path separate from his family and God. He definitely has many cracks in his life. He marries a pagan woman, walking apart from God. He’s sold his brother into slavery and deceived his father Jacob, letting Jacob believe Joseph is dead. Still God blesses Judah and he has three sons; Er, Onan and Shelah. The problem is that Judah’s sons do the same thing Judah’s done; walking their own paths without paying attention to God. Judah finds his oldest son Er a wife named Tamar. When God kills Er because of his wickedness, Judah tells his second son Onan to have a child with Tamar to keep his brother’s name alive. But Onan uses Tamar like a prostitute, using her for sex while making sure she never gets pregnant. Onan dishonours Tamar; shaming her. So God kills Onan.

Judah’s family life is messy and chaotic, even worse than his father Jacob’s family. Judah’s afraid and wants to protect his youngest son from Tamar who seems to be attracting God’s anger. Judah sends Tamar back to her father until Shelah is old enough to marry; Judah has no intentions to let his last son marry her. Tamar goes home in disgrace, a shamed woman rejected by her husband’s family. Judah neglects his daughter-in-law’s needs as a helpless widow, needs he should be providing for. Rather than turning to God to make sense of what’s happening, Judah continues to walk his own path apart from God.

Judah never stops believing in God, he simply stops letting God guide his life. Judah takes control of his life into his own hands, depending on himself to make decisions on how to live. Judah loses touch with God. This is an echo of our fall into sin, we figure we know better than God on how we should live. We want to be god of our own lives. This is why Jesus comes, to bring order and healing into our chaos and hurt. Jesus comes to bring the kingdom of heaven near again. The cross is Jesus’ way of establishing the kingdom of heaven here, pouring out the Holy Spirit into the world to help us recognize our need to Jesus and to help us become part of bringing healing and hope back into the world. In our story today, a number of years pass and, “Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua dies.”

Reflecting on this story this week, I came across an article stating that most churches today in North America depend on their own wisdom and skill instead of God’s guidance. It’s not that they don’t believe in God, it’s that they depend on their own wisdom and desires to guide and shape their lives rather than God’s. This has led to churches that are no longer certain of their identity because they are so closely identified with our culture and society.

It’s not that churches in North America don’t believe in God, it’s that they try to tell God what to do instead of allowing themselves to be led and shaped by God. Too often we no longer have regular contact with God. Many don’t talk with him on a daily basis; the idea of praying constantly is completely foreign to most Christians today in our culture. Charles Sheldon's 1896 book, In His Steps is about a church that tries to live by the principle, “What would Jesus do?” Surprisingly, many Christians don’t like this saying. They believe we can’t know what Jesus will really do in different situations, yet if we let the values of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness guide us through prayer and Bible reading, I believe we can know what Jesus would do.

One of the church’s traditions teaches us to pray this prayer all day long, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By doing this, you gain a sense of God’s presence all day long reminding you about grace and mercy; great values to guide you through the day. This is why our church leadership is embracing prayer and worship as we look to determine where God is leading us and who he’s shaping us to be as disciples of Jesus. It comes from a desire to be more in tune with God and his will for us as a church.

Tamar’s actions struck me. When Tamar hears that Judah is going to be nearby and recognizes that Judah has no plan to give her as a wife to his youngest son to carry on the family name of Er, she crafts a plan to honour her husband by dishonouring herself. Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute in order to give her dead husband a child and carry on his family name by tempting Judah. Judah, just like Onan his second son, uses Tamar, he gives her a pledge for payment of his personal seal and staff. Tamar recognises she can’t trust Judah. You know the story, God blesses Tamar and she becomes pregnant; Judah condemns her, but she reveals that he is the father of her unborn children by presenting his seal and staff and proof. Judah recognises a truth, “She is more righteous than I,” he says, “Since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” The theme to seeing, or recognizing truth stands out in this story, as the crossroads where Judah and Tamar meet is called, “opening of the eyes.”  Both Tamar and Judah’s eyes were opened in different ways.

A former mentor said, “this sordid story where Judah impregnates his daughter-in-law does not thwart God’s plans to bless the world through Abraham.” Rather, this story gives us an expression of God’s grace when Judah and Tamar’s illegitimate son finds a place in Jesus’ genealogy as Tamar gives birth to twins; Perez and Zerah. Perez, ancestor of Jesus, becomes a term of blessing by the time of the Judges as the elders bless Ruth and Boaz, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” Ruth and Boaz have a son so that Ruth’s first husband’s line doesn’t end in his death, the same as with Tamar and Judah. Ruth’s son is Obed, grandfather of King David, ancestor of Jesus Christ. Judah goes back to his family and leads them to Egypt, a place of food and safety where they can grow as a family. Perez leads the family into a position of power and authority among the tribes of Israel. God works in and through the messes we create when we walk our own paths first, to move his plan forward. God always works to draw you back to him.

Tamar sacrifices her honour and dignity out of faithfulness to her husband. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians that Jesus also sacrifices his honour and “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... and became obedient to death---even death on a cross.” This was a shameful death, there was no dignity in such a death, yet Jesus willingly walks that path out of his faithfulness to God. Jesus comes into the messiness of life and experiences it all; from the love of parents, to the loss of a parent in Joseph, rejection, betrayal, the grace and hurt of friendship, and more. Jesus offers you a path to God to help you work and see through the messiness, and when the messiness is so chaotic and you can’t make sense of it, you still find hope and peace in knowing that God is in control.

We need a revival to rediscover the wonder of Jesus’ way into our hearts. We need our hearts to be impacted and transformed by the gospel message and a high expectation of what Jesus can do and is doing right now. Jesus doesn’t forget you or walk away from you when you don’t pay him much attention; rather he continues to work in and through your messy lives to carry out his plan to restore and redeem all creation. The Holy Spirit’s constantly at work in your hearts, looking to stir a greater desire to know Jesus and experience his presence, guiding, and blessing you through the gift of his word and relationships to bless our community. Listen to the Spirit inside you, calling you to embrace Jesus as your Lord; the one who can lead you through the messiness of your life so you can lead others to Jesus, their Lord. 

1 Kings 19:1-21 Elijah: All Hope Lost

Elijah has just defeated the prophets of Baal in a God vs god competition. Yahweh, Israel’s God, completely humiliates the foreign god Baal. Baal worship came into Israel when Israel’s King Ahab married Jezebel, a cruel vicious princess from a nearby nation and made her his queen. With the arrival of Jezebel came Baal’s prophets and worship. Jezebel has a deep hatred for Israel’s God and is doing everything she can to make Yahweh small and Baal big. But Yahweh is more powerful than she could ever imagine, but that doesn’t stop her from threatening to kill Elijah and Elijah, knowing Jezebel and the power of her anger, is afraid and he runs. Even though he’s just seen Yahweh in action, Jezebel’s threat feels more real than Yahweh’s power right now.

Elijah runs, he falls into a depression. Elijah’s fear now is as deep as the high from his sense of joy and excitement for God was when he defeated and killed the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It feels as if life has smacked him across the face to wake him up. It’s common after spiritual highs to experience spiritual letdowns which is often deepened by fear and doubt. I’ve seen and experienced this myself after mission trips or emotional times where I’ve experienced God doing something really special. It’s not uncommon that a few weeks afterwards that the pressure to keep your faith private and not get so pushy about sharing our faith begins. On the mountaintop it feels as if Jesus is everywhere, then you get home and the reality is that there are so many who haven’t yet really accepted Jesus, and you can feel alone and different.  

The fall into sin is not just about doing bad things, it’s also about experiencing separation from God, the experience of being thrown out of the Garden to Eden into a world where life has now become harder. This creates emptiness, doubt and fear in people; barriers to experiencing the joy and strength that comes from being close to Jesus. Jesus experiences this separation from God on the cross for us, coming to a place where he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus goes to the cross for the sin of the world so that we no longer need to experience the feeling of aloneness from him anymore; giving us the gift of his Spirit who makes our hearts his home now. Jesus invites you to accept the presence and strength that comes from the Holy Spirit as we follow him. But the reality is that many of us struggle with loss of hope, with feelings of not measuring up, experiences of rejection and deep hurt and some of us have even wondered, like Elijah if it’s worthwhile to carry on.

Elijah runs into the wilderness, a place the Jews expect to meet God. Elijah is so depressed he sees no reason even to continue on, he sees no future where God is powerful enough to draw Israel back to him. God sends an angel to minister to Elijah twice and Elijah finds the strength to continue on to Mount Horeb, formerly known as Mount Sinai where God met Israel and spoke to Moses so many years earlier. This is God’s mountain, a place to go to meet God, similar to what Jesus calls his church to be today, a place and a people who allow Jesus to shine through them. God comes and asks Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah answers God, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”  

Elijah’s cracks and nicks in his heart and soul are showing through. Elijah, even having accomplished amazing things for God, is still a jar of clay and he’s being hard pressed now and the pressure is showing through in his depression as he’s overwhelmed emotionally and spiritually. He’s having a hard time seeing forward and so lashes out at God. God invites Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain on the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. On Mount Carmel, God sends fire to consume the offerings on the altar in a spectacular way. It’s our nature to expect God to show up in big ways, to save us in spectacular ways, giving us a great faith story to share that will amaze everyone. God does things his way; look at Jesus, he’s not the Saviour people were looking for.

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” In the whisper comes the question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” It’s the same question asked gently and Elijah gives the same answer, the cracks in his soul are large. I’m not sure what Elijah is expecting here, but I’m sure he’s not expecting God to give him three tasks that are going to lead to a new king in Israel and the downfall of Jezebel and her reign of terror.

God reassures Elijah that he’s not alone, “Go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” God is going to save his people. In anointing Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet, God is providing Elijah with someone to walk with him who can understand the pressure of being called by God.

We’re not meant to walk alone, we are created for community so that we can support, encourage and build each other up. One of the most important things I’ve learnt in my own walk following Jesus is the importance of having people who are close to you who understand what you’re going through because they’ve know you. Our perception of what is going on may feel right but it isn’t always so. Elijah feels he’s all alone, he feels that Jezebel is a greater danger than God is able to handle and yet God already has plans in the works to free his people and there are many more who follow God than Elijah ever imagined. Elijah finds the hope and strength he needs in God’s tasks for him.

Jesus comes into the world as a whisper, rejects Satan’s temptation to be bold and noisy in establishing the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Jesus creates community around himself as a source of strength and encouragement, and while preparing for his death for our sin, he promises that he will not abandon us or leave us alone but sends his Spirit to be with us always. Jesus establishes the church, as fragile and cracked as it may be at times, to be a place to find encouragement and strength, community, love and blessing, especially through hard times of depression when life becomes overwhelming. Jesus went to the cross for us so that we can be part of building a better, stronger, healthier kingdom, a kingdom where Jesus is with his people always and we never need feel alone or overwhelmed by life again.

A New Year and Hope

In a way it always feels a bit strange that just because we change from one month to another that all of a sudden people feel this urge to make resolutions for their lives. It's not a bad thing, it's actually really good to slow down once in a while and think about how life is going and what values shape us, and what we kinds of things we should focus on.
Just before Christmas, our family lost a dear member and we travelled from different corners of this country to be with my brother and his family. All of a sudden all our Christmas and party plans meant nothing, family does, and so we worked out our budgets and we all came together. It was a time of tears, but also of love and laughter. We told stories, looked at pictures, and shared precious memories. It drew us all closer together. It reminded us of who we are.
Extended family made the effort to come and those unable to make it made a point to connect in lots of different ways. It reminded us that we belong to a much larger family, one that we can draw comfort and hope from. It doesn't take away the hurt of losing someone you love, but it reminds us that we are loved and supported and that when we find it too hard to carry on, we have people and family who will help carry us for a while. As one cousin said about my brother, "He always comes to our family events and is there to support us during the hard times. When we heard the news, there was no decision to make, we knew we were coming to support him."
This is where we find strength, comfort, peace and hope, knowing that we belong to something much bigger than just ourselves. Leading the funeral, I was also reminded that this is why faith and a church family is important, it reminds us that, "We are not our own, we belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ." Jesus told us that he would never leave us alone, that he was sending his Spirit, but we are also never alone because he puts people who genuinely care for us into our lives during the difficult times.
So my resolution this year is to try and be there for the people in my life to offer hope and friendship and love, remembering they're what's really important in life because they're important to Jesus. So what's your New Year's resolution?