The Holy Spirit: Guide and Sustainer - Matthew 3:13-4:11

This morning we’re looking at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and how the Holy Spirit guides him in his preparation for the years of ministry that lay ahead of him. We don’t often connect Jesus’ baptism with his time in the wilderness. Jesus seeks out his cousin John to be baptized by him. John is humble and wise enough to realize that he’s the one needing to be baptized by Jesus rather than the other way around. But Jesus insists, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” This phrase of Jesus has created a lot of discussion among scholars through the years. Righteousness is about a correct relationship to the will of God as reflected in his covenantal relationship with Israel. Righteous actions are those actions that flow out of God’s choosing Israel to be his people, and the laws and ways God gave them to live by. This is connected to our salvation because God is righteous and the saviour of his people. Isaiah 61:10 reflects this, “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Dallas Willard writes about salvation and I saw how Jesus and the Holy Spirit work out our salvation, “Salvation includes three things that are available to us: Forgiveness of sins. Through the work of Christ and his substitutionary stand before God on our behalf, our sins are forgiven through the mercy of God. Transformation of character into the image of Jesus Christ. We are meant to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). This is a work of grace just as much as the forgiveness of sins. And there is nowhere any indication that this is something that is supposed to happen after we die. A significant degree of power over evil, both in our own lives and in the life of the church of which we are essentially a part.” The Spirit works out the work of Christ within us. It made me think about what Jesus is saying about fulfilling all righteousness, with the images of Isaiah 61 and salvation, transforming our character in the image of Jesus, and giving us power over evil’s influence and temptations. It starts here with Jesus’ baptism and consecration to God’s will and plan.

Right after the Holy Spirit comes on Jesus and God announces his pleasure in Jesus, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This is all about being prepared for this new stage in Jesus’ coming to earth as our messiah. A number of cultures have young men going out by themselves to prepare for manhood. Here in Canada, First Nations young men would go out on vision quests to seek a spirit guide; something similar happens among many African tribes. They seek out guidance from the spirit world, seeking for an identity. They missed out on the Spirit of God who hovered over creation at the beginning, bringing life because they didn’t know Jesus yet. Jesus went into the wilderness, not seeking a spiritual guide, but guided by the Holy Spirit. A generation ago, it was common for people to take time to travel and find themselves, a similar thing, not realizing that the way to finding their identity lay in Jesus rather than in themselves.

The wilderness was the place Israel went to encounter God in order to be shaped by God, seeking his guidance. The Spirit leads Jesus to learn what being the Son of God actually means and looks like, what the nature of being God’s son is. In the coming temptations, the test will be to do his ministry in his own power, or to trust in his Father and the anointing power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout Scripture, we see the Spirit guide the people, or cries for the Spirit’s guidance. Ps 78:52 “But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness,” Isa 49:10 “They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” Isaiah 11:1–3 points ahead to the Spirit guiding the coming Messiah, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears.”

This echoes forward to the Spirit being given to us, to be a guide to us, a guide into places and times to shape and form us, given to point us to Jesus and remind us of who Jesus is. The Spirit will lead many of us into the wilderness at times. Sometimes it can be especially dark or hard; it can be lonely or overwhelming. It’s in these times we’re encouraged to call to the Holy Spirit and cry out, “Sustain me, help me through this dark valley, over this impossible mountain.” The Spirit is there!

In Ezekiel 36:26–28 we’re given a glimpse of how the Spirit will guide us, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Here we see the Spirit is not only given to guide us, but to sustain us, “You will live in the land I gave your ancestors,” and we see this when Israel wanders through the wilderness, the Spirit led them to places where there was water, into places of safety and provided food through the forty years.

Jesus fasts for 40 days and nights, open to the leading and instruction from his Father through the Spirit. The Spirit doesn’t leave Jesus as he enters the wilderness, just as the Spirit doesn’t leave Israel when they’re taken into exile, as Ezekiel shows us when the Spirit leaves the temple and goes east with the people when they are taken to Babylon, just as the Spirit doesn’t leave us when he guides us into new directions, places, and times. This is why Mikenna is able to go to a different part of the world with YWAM in strength and confidence, knowing the Spirit is with her.

After 40 days and nights of fasting, the devil appears and 3 times he tries to tempt Jesus to walk a different path in being the Son of God then God gives, and 3 times Jesus responds with the words God had given Israel earlier, to feast on God’s word, to trust God in all things, and to worship God alone. This echoes ahead to John 14:26 when Jesus promises his disciples the Holy Spirit, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you,” just as the Spirit reminds Jesus of God’s word in response to the devil.

The Holy Spirit protects and sustains God’s people. In Job we hear the Lord say in Job 1:12, “The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” Then in Job 2:6, “The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” Here the Lord restricts Satan’s power and influence, sustaining Job during this time of trial and temptation. Louis Berkhof writes about common grace and how “divine punishments and rewards serve to encourage moral goodness in the world. The Spirit restrains sin in the lives of people and nations and sin is not permitted to complete its destructive work: punishments often check the sinful deeds of men, and the rewards spur them on to do what is good and right.” With all the evil and violence happening in our world today, we know the Holy Spirit’s working, making sure that evil’s restrained from taking over. We know that no matter what happens, the Holy Spirit’s with us, he will carry us, and will guide us to remain true to Jesus, to be salt and light in even the darkest time.

Because the Spirit is with us, Jesus is able to tell us in Matthew 5:44–45, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” I love following Jesus; he gives us his Spirit to guide us, to be with us, and to give us what we need as we travel through life, knowing who I am, who I belong to, and giving me what I need to be a blessing. I encourage you; embrace Jesus and his Spirit, allow the Spirit to guide and sustain you.

 

 

The Holy Spirit: Spirit of Power - Judges 3:7-11; 6:33-35; John 14:15-21

Christianity has often been accused of being a religion for weaklings who create a God to lean on because they’re not strong enough to stand on their own. Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1970s, traded away players who were Christians because he didn’t think they were tough enough, Ted Tuner, a media mogul said, “Christianity is a crutch for the weak, a religion for losers,” while the philosopher Friedrich Nietzche believed that God is a mental construction to calm distress during times of suffering, that belief in God is weakness.

Ballard, Turner, and Nietzsche do have one thing right, Christianity is for the weak. We see this over and over again, first in Israel, and later in the church. We keep falling and failing and need to be rescued, saved, and renewed. There’s this great fallacy that we’re strong enough to make it through life on our own, that we have the strength within ourselves to make it through any and all hard times if we only trust in ourselves and work hard. We even find this belief in church when we claim that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” Paul’s talking about temptation here, not about suffering or hard times. God sometimes does give us more than we can handle to teach us to rely on him, to build our character, or to show his power through our weakness.

Paul gets this in 1 Corinthians 1:27–29, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” We’re all weak, called to trust and lean on God. Paul has his own weakness that he asks God to take away, but trusts God will give him the strength he needs, whether God takes his thorn away or not, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Our strength comes from God through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher in the 1800s. He ached for a return of passion to the Christian life. He turned to the Old Testament, where he found people who seemed more real. They were saints and sinners, and there was nothing phony about them. God really worked in their lives, and they had a passion for him. R.C. Sproul writes, “Another professor once asked me, “How do you assess the strength of the church today?” I replied that it was becoming increasingly clear to me that many people in the church have a vibrant faith, believe the cardinal doctrines of Scripture, and so forth, but few of them see the Christian faith as a mission, as a profound concern in their lives. That was what Kierkegaard longed to see.”

God sees and hears us, and as we see in the judges Othniel, Gideon, and others, the Lord sends his Spirit on his chosen to save his people. Othniel defeats the king of Aram and the people have peace for 40 years. Gideon defeats the Midianites and Israel has peace for 40 years. But Israel keeps drifting away from the Lord between judges. The Old Testament shows us the Holy Spirit filling various people with his power for special tasks to protect and lead his people out of oppression and into freedom, or to call them back to the Lord. Isaiah 40:29–31 is a beautiful statement of the Holy Spirit’s commitment to us, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

One thing that fills me with hope is that God chooses people filled with doubt, people who are weak and broken, and he fills them with his Spirit of power to do his work. He simply calls us to respond in faith and he’ll work in us and through us through his Spirit. Jesus knows our weakness and how difficult it is for us to resist sin and temptation, how hard obedience can be, and instead of condemning us, he tells his followers, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” The Greek word that is translated as “advocate,” or “comforter” in the Kiing James version, is parakletos. The translators of the King James Version translated parakletos as “comforter” because at that time the English language was more closely connected to its Latin roots. In Latin, the word comfortis, comes from the prefix “com,” meaning “with” and the root word fortis, which means “strong,” so comfortis means “with strength.”

Jesus is promises them the Holy Spirit to strengthen them. As R.C Sproul writes, “The empowerment to live the life that Christ has called us to live comes to us by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, but the Spirit also fills us with its strength to resist sin, obey Jesus, and carry on Jesus’ work. Paul sees the importance of the Spirit’s power in us to shape us in the image of Jesus in Ephesians 3:16–17, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” When we read the book of Acts, we see how the Holy Spirit fills people like the apostles with power to convict people of their sin and lead them to Jesus, and the strength to carry on through hard times and stay on mission to share the good news of Jesus. The Holy Spirit continues to fill us today with the strength needed to follow Jesus and continue his work.

David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary, travelled to Africa in the mid-19th century in order to spread Christianity and end the slave trade. Livingstone’s explorations opened up Africa to the world, challenging the slave trade and creating a foundation for missionaries to come. Despite facing huge challenges, his faith and determination stayed strong, inspired by a vision of Africa’s conversion to Jesus. Livingstone didn’t see many people accept Jesus in his lifetime, his work deeply impacted Africa’s Christian landscape. His work led to many later missions, and his position against slavery created international support. Today Africa is the center of Christianity due to the power of the Holy Spirit. There are many stories of how the Holy Spirit gave believers the strength to go into impossible situations for Jesus, people like Jim Elliot, and later his wife Elizabeth Elliot after he was killed on the mission field. Johanna Veenstra, a CRC missionary who dedicated her life to Nigeria even though the CRC chose the China mission field over Africa. She opened up a mission field there that still bears great fruit today.

A person I’ve been talking to lately told me, “If God really exists, why doesn’t he just save everyone; why would an all-powerful God allow people the freedom to reject him?” In a world leaning more to authoritarianism, the idea of an all-powerful God who allows rejection and disobedience is hard to understand. Power is their god and weakness has no place in their thinking and the idea that God gives his Spirit to weak and broken people to bring new life and hope blows their minds. We’re simply called to trust Jesus’ call to make disciples and share the good news and the power of the Holy Spirit will do the transformation part. I pray this helps to take away the fear of sharing your faith and inviting others to join here at Bethel because the Spirit takes the responsibility of transforming away from us.

The Spirit’s power and strength is available to us when we share the good news that brings freedom from slavery to sin, when disciple-making is the core of our church identity, and our passion grows to introduce the people in our lives to Jesus. Our role is to share who God is in our lives, to introduce them to the Bible; the Holy Spirit will fill us with the strength needed to resist temptation and share the good news wherever God places us, and the Spirit will transform their hearts for Jesus.

The Holy Spirit – Breath of God - Genesis 1:1-2; 2:4-7; John 20:19-23

“In the beginning,” what a great way to start God’s story. In the beginning we meet God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and we’re given a glimpse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, the first person of God we’re introduced to.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reflecting on who the Holy Spirit is. Francis Chan calls the Holy Spirit the “forgotten God,” as much of the church is unable to describe who the Holy Spirit is as God. He writes, “The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our situation today. Of course, he is always vital; but perhaps especially now. After all, if the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop him. if he doesn’t move, we will not produce genuine fruit—no matter how much effort or money we expend.”

In the beginning, “The earth was formless and empty.” In the Hebrew, the sense of this phrase points to chaos, confusion, and desolation. Over this, God speaks and order, beauty, and life appear. It all begins with the hovering of the Holy Spirit over the earth. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, write how the Spirit hovers over the waters, “as a fowl does, when hatching eggs. The immediate agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation.” The image is of the Spirit preparing the coming creation of the universe to fill it with life.

God’s the creator of everything, including all living beings, setting the stage for the rest of the Biblical story. The fundamental difference between God and all creation is that God’s the creator and we’re the created; everything, including all living creatures, owes their existence to God’s creative power. The creation story emphasizes the sovereignty of God.

The high point of creation is recorded in Genesis 1:26-28, ^“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 2 gives us a very personal glimpse of humanity’s creation, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

These verses have fascinated people throughout history with the personal warmth and care that God shows in creating us. There are two parts to our creation; the first is God forming a man from the dust of the ground. The verb is “vasar” and describes the work of an artist; like a potter forming a clay vessel; in a similar way, God is described as creating humanity. After God forms the body, he breathes into the man’s nostrils the breath of life and the man becomes a living being. The Hebrew is “living soul,” making humans both physical and spiritual beings, giving us the ability to have a relationship of fellowship with God. Louis Berkof writes, “His body was formed out of the dust of the earth, while his soul was an immediate creation of God.”

Bonhoeffer marvels at this act of creation, “To say that Yahweh fashions humankind with Yahweh’s own hands expresses two complementary things. On the one hand, it expresses the physical nearness of the Creator to the creature—expresses that it is really the Creator who makes me, the human being, with the Creator’s own hands; it expresses the trouble the Creator takes, the Creator’s thinking about me, the Creator’s intention with me and nearness to me. On the other hand, it expresses also the omnipotence, the utter supremacy, with which the Creator fashions and creates me and in terms of which I am the Creator’s creature; it expresses the fatherliness with which the Creator creates me and in the context of which I worship the Creator. That is the true God to whom the whole Bible bears witness.”

In other places in the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit give life, Job 33:4, “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Psalm 104:29–30, “When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.” The scholar J.D. Dunn describes the Hebrew understanding of the Spirit, “From earliest Heb. thought rûaḥ had various meanings, all more or less equally prominent. 1. Wind, an invisible, mysterious, powerful force 2. Breath (i.e., air on a small scale), or spirit 3. Divine power…. At its heart is the experience of a mysterious, awesome power—the mighty invisible force of the wind, the mystery of vitality, the otherly power that transforms—all rûaḥ, all manifestations of divine energy.”

Because we’re spiritual beings, the fall into sin impacts us deeply, both physically and spiritually. To enjoy fellowship with God again, we need the Holy Spirit to renew our spirit, our soul. We need regeneration, a theological word for renewal and a new life spiritually. R.C Sproul describes regeneration as, “the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit to come to people who are spiritually dead…. and to re-create them as He regenerates them. “To regenerate” means “to generate anew.” By means of regeneration, the Spirit gives life to people who have no spiritual life. Regeneration is a work that the Holy Spirit does immediately upon the souls of people…, the Spirit directly brings spiritual life out of spiritual death.” This is what Jesus is getting at when he tells Nicodemus that he must be born again.

This helps us understand what Jesus is doing when he appears to his disciples after his resurrection and breaths on them, “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He goes on, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Just as the Holy Spirit is there at the beginning of creation and the giving of life, just as in Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, Jesus breathes on the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of new life with God through his death and resurrection. Jesus is looking ahead to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all of God’s people. Life is more than breathing, it’s our inner life shaped and directed by the Holy Spirit; it’s what motivates us, what gives us purpose and meaning. Jesus is calling us to make his mission our work, to make him the heart of our lives.

The Spirit’s given the disciples as they’re sent out to share the good news of Jesus, to invite people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, into the new life found in Jesus. Jesus’ forgiveness points to the new life found in him, and the Holy Spirit is the person of God who works it out in us, shaping our character, how we see and understand life through Jesus’ life and teaching. But there’s also the reality that those who believe they don’t need forgiveness, or those who refuse to repent, or reject Jesus will not receive new life. With all the hatred in the world, all the violence which leads to death both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, there’s a huge need for the new life the Spirit brings, for the peace the Spirit brings. It begins right here with each other, with our neighbours, co-workers, and even within our own families.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all active in our salvation and regeneration; Titus 3:4–7, “But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” The evidence of our salvation is our changed lives through the shaping and power of the Holy Spirit, 1 Peter 1:22–23, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

If you’re experiencing a desert time, a dry time spiritually, if you’re looking to move past where you’re at, looking for a new start spiritually, if you’re seeking God, forgiveness, or a new life of hope, right now is the time to ask Jesus to fill you with his Spirit, to ask the Spirit to stir within you a deeper desire for Jesus and his new life. It’s never too late to ask. At Bethel, we’re dedicated to helping you grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, to give you tools, beginning with the Scriptures, to grow in your faith. You can connect with myself, your elder, or with Tammy our Faith Formation Coordinator; we would love to help you grow deeper in your faith.

 

Habakkuk’s Prayer of Faith - Habakkuk 3

             

Habakkuk has asked God tough questions and now Habakkuk responds to God's answers. God told Habakkuk that he doesn't overlook evil, or the brokenness it brings. God promises accountability for Babylon, but not until Judah remembers again their covenant relationship with God. God will deliver them, but never tells Habakkuk Israel will be a free nation again once the punishment is finished. God doesn't talk about Judah and what he’ll do for them, instead God promises that Babylon will suffer the consequences of their evil. God points to who he is, ending with a call to worship and honour him, a call to trust, echoes to Job!

Habakkuk responds, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord." Habakkuk acknowledges God's power, standing in awe before him, remembering who God is and what God’s done for his people in the past, all rooted in his covenantal relationship with his people. Habakkuk accepts God's answer that God’s in control and evil will reap the consequences it deserves. He remembers how God overturned evil powers in the past to save his people and restores his relationship with Israel again and again. Habakkuk looks back in order to strengthen his faith in God so his heart can sincerely trust and praise God, no matter the circumstances. Habakkuk praises God in spite of his own uncertainty, calling God to act again, "I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."

Habakkuk remembers Israel's exodus from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering through the wilderness. Habakkuk remembers Teman and Mount Paran and God's glory revealed there, echoing Mount Sinai and God's meeting his people there. He remembers the splendour and power of God and how the people reacted with awe and wonder.

Then Habakkuk remembers God is a warrior for his people, "Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed—but he marches on forever. I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?  You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows... You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one."

God proved his might and power while Israel were slaves in Egypt, he protected Israel in the wilderness from nations like Midian, and when Israel entered the Promised Land, he even caused the sun to stand still so Joshua could defeat his enemies. Habakkuk turns to the stories of salvation to find hope and confidence in the future even if the present looks grim. Habakkuk knows a God who controls nature and the nations.

Habakkuk ends by saying, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; he knows God’s in control, that no matter what is happening right now, no matter what’s coming, God saves his people. Yet Habakkuk also knows individuals will still get hurt and even suffer greatly. In Scripture the emphasis is normally on Israel as a whole, not as individuals. We've turned the Bible into a personal guide to personal salvation while God normally deals with his people as a whole. When God works to save his people, individuals and even families still suffer greatly at times, even to the point of death. Habakkuk knows that God will save them from the power of Babylon, but that he personally might not survive and might face great suffering himself. Habakkuk is a call to the people of God to trust and believe and praise the Lord, even if personally they might suffer.

The Jews in the time of Jesus also knew suffering. Pilate was in control and often extremely cruel towards the Jews so they wouldn’t didn't get any ideas about rebelling against him or Rome. Crosses and other cruel forms of punishment were fairly normal. Jesus knew of the cruelty of Pilate as Luke tells us in chapter 13, "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Life can be hard. I've walked alongside teenage girls who were abused, with women abused by Christian husbands, seniors whose children took all they had and then abandoned them, parents who have lost children, refugees who fled from brutal situations, those who have thought of taking their own lives, and families of those who did. How do you help people who have gone through these kinds of things to trust or praise God? Habakkuk shows us the way, to look back and remember who God is and what he’s done in the past. God’s the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow is what Scripture confesses, so when we see God listen to the cries of his people and respond, when we see God's love expressed through Jesus who died to reconcile us with God, we find hope.

A young mother of 2 young daughters whose husband took his own life told me, "I have to trust God and I do because I've heard you tell the stories of God and how he saves his people, it's hard and when I praise God, it's with tears, but I do it because when I read the psalms I hear David and others crying out to God in hard times and always ending up with praising God. I do hope it gets easier though." Did you hear how Jesus calls us to repent? It sounds hard during persecution and unexplained suffering, that Jesus calls us to repent. But the word repent in Greek is a military word which means to do an about face, to turn around. During times when things look hopeless and the effects of sin have filled your life with darkness and suffering, one unnamed ancient church father wrote that to repent means to turn away from looking so deeply into your suffering so that you lose hope, and turning around to look for the light of Jesus.

We look to Jesus, the light and hope of the world and remember his life and suffering, how he was crucified to save us from our sin. Jesus knows your pain and suffering, he knows your hurt, because through his Spirit, he’s there with you. He comes close and tells us that our suffering is only for a time and that he suffered and died for us so that we might find eternal life and peace in him, even in the middle of suffering. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Paul also suffered deeply for bringing the message of Jesus to the world. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul writes that he was lashed, beaten, stoned, in danger from nature, Jews, and Gentiles, and experienced hunger and thirst as he followed Jesus’ call. Yet he’s able to write, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Jesus is a warrior who is returning to defeat the powers of sin and evil; there will be justice. In Revelation 19:11–13 and 19-21, John sees Jesus coming as a warrior for his people “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God…. Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”

 If you have, or are suffering, know that the church is here to help you keep looking to Jesus, to remember his faithfulness to you. These are often long pain-filled journeys of faith and trust in God, but you don’t walk alone, Jesus' Spirit is with you and I, and the elders, and many others are also here to listen to, to weep with, to support and encourage you, and help you find peace and rest in Jesus, saying with Habakkuk, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights."

Why Do You Tolerate the Treacherous? - Habakkuk 1:12-2:20

Last week we looked at Habakkuk's question to God about why God allows so much injustice and evil to happen among his own people. Habakkuk’s horrified that his holy God would use the vicious and brutal Babylonians to punish his own people. How can that be? "Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.  Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" But Habakkuk also trusts God’s covenantal faithfulness to his people and waits "to look to see what he, God, will say to me, Habakkuk, and what answer I am to give to this complaint."

God tells Habakkuk to write his answer down on a tablet so that it won’t get destroyed or forgotten. His message is one of hope: God’s going to restore his people, but not right away. Israel needs to learn again that God is God and they’re his people, called to be a blessing to the nations so the nations can learn who God is through them. Sometimes a father needs to allow his children to suffer the consequences of their choices, even though it may be really painful. This doesn't mean that God doesn't love us, God’s with us always and suffers the pain alongside us since his Spirit lives within us experiencing our pain and suffering with us. Our God knows our pain because he walks with us through it all, this is why we can turn to him no matter what is going on in our lives, because he understands our hurt, but a loving father also knows that sometimes this is the only way we learn to trust his teaching.

It's hard knowing that God's going to allow Judah to be under the power of a pagan government that is deliberately anti-God. Can you image Habakkuk’s questions for God if he knew that once the Babylonians conquer Israel, that Israel will not truly be free, except for a brief time under the Maccabees, until 1948 and the re-establishment of Israel by the United Nations. Habakkuk’s looking for a God win, a Jewish win. He recognizes that what’s happening here is a battle between the gods, between Yahweh, Judah’s God and the gods of the Babylonians. God reassures Habakkuk that Yahweh, Israel’s God is in control and that he wins even if it doesn’t look like it right now, we say God is omnipotent, all-powerful. Habakkuk doesn’t know of Jesus and his defeat of death, his resurrection, and future return to claim all the universe and every knee will bow to him.

God tells Habakkuk that he’ll hold Babylon accountable, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Those whom Babylon oppressed will rise up and overthrow their cruel yoke. Yet God calls his people to live by a different standard, "the righteous will live by their faithfulness." As followers of Jesus, we often find ourselves trusting too much in governments over God's kingdom. We often tolerate the treacherous for our goals, God doesn’t tolerate the treacherous, he allows them to increase their guilt and holds then accountable.

God's kingdom’s not like the kingdoms we create here on earth. God's kingdom is something we live out in relationship with God. God gives them a way of living at Mount Sinai that focused on Israel’s relationship with God and each other in healthy life-giving ways. Jesus reveals to us the kingdom of heaven in the Sermon on the Mount and describes it through numerous parables. Jesus challenges Israel and us to live God's kingdom, beginning with "repent and believe," to be kingdom people, living out "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth and it is in heaven.”

Israel in Habakkuk's time has forgotten or ignored the call to live in God's will. They no longer protected the widows, orphans, or poor, they were too focused on building their own lives. Life was all about themselves and what they can get out of it, which is why they are so drawn to the gods of the nations around them. These gods could be manipulated through offerings to justify taking or doing what they want. We create our own gods, because it gives us control on how we live, we choose our own values. In our culture, we’re the center of our universe and we give ourselves permission to not see the hurt and brokenness and reach out, or place the blame for their circumstances on them. For many people, there’s little concern about injustice until it impacts them personally. God reassures Habakkuk that he will hold the nations accountable for their actions and values. The kingdom of heaven is the only eternal kingdom and the time is coming that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.” Jesus comes to defeat evil and restore the very good of creation, we call this Christus Victorious; Jesus wins!

Jesus invites us into God's kingdom, to trust that God’s laws and ways are given to us to help us flourish as his people, and to be an example to the world of how God has created us to live with God and each other. God puts our earthly governments in place, but we live out God's kingdom in each and every community he’s places his church. Believers are called to be involved in politics as a Christian influence, but we don't put our faith in politics. We work for the principles of justice, for protection for the vulnerable, poor, and foreigners among us with compassion and grace, all the things the prophets were sent to Israel to remind them about.

The center of government is not Edmonton or Ottawa, it's God. Wherever a follower of Jesus is present, God's kingdom is there. Jesus calls us to give up our agendas and to trust his way of being God's kingdom people. We don't live how Jesus challenges us to live in order to get into the kingdom of God, but because we love Jesus and are already part of God's kingdom.

N.T Wright has reflected deeply on Jesus' description of the kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to be light and salt in the world, bringing hope and flavour into the world, giving people a taste of what following Jesus is all about. It's about letting the light of the world, Jesus, to shine through us into the world. It’s about turning the other cheek, going the extra mile in serving each other, loving your enemies, offering forgiveness instead of vengeance. The kingdom of God is a place of shalom with all that means in terms of healthy relationships and being a healthy community spiritually, emotionally, and physically for all people.

We’re easily seduced by the kingdoms of our world. When we choose the world’s way; we lose our way. God allows Babylon to conquer Israel and take them into exile for 70 years in order to draw his people back to himself. In the center of Jerusalem is the temple, "The Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him." The temple, not the palace, is the center of the life of God's people. This is the constant call to God's people, to keep our focus on God, to place God's will above our own, to be God's presence in our province and country which often sees no value in God or God's kingdom values. Jesus invites his listeners into God's kingdom; a way of prayer and worship filled with jubilation and celebration which can be practiced right here and now.

Earthly governments often create times when we're challenged to choose and live out God's kingdom values over the government’s values. In the kingdom of heaven, God's people speak up against injustice and work towards creating a safe place where everyone’s able to flourish. This looks like reaching out to support women who can't see any other option than abortion, opening up our homes and lives to support them so they can have and raise their child. When people feel death is the only option left to deal with their pain and suffering, coming alongside them with love, compassion, fellowship, and grace to help them see the value of life, even life filled with physical pain and suffering, helping them move towards death in trust so they’re able to impact those who know and see us. We live out God's values by loving, supporting and enabling people to choose God’s values given to shape us in his image. When they choose otherwise, we offer grace and mercy and understanding and help them see that God loves them and calls them back to draw close to him.

As Bethel, we keep our eyes and hearts on God, listening closely to Jesus' challenge and vision for living out God's kingdom right here, beginning in our homes. We’re sinners in need to God's forgiveness and grace which we receive through Jesus and his willing sacrifice on the cross in our place. In his death and resurrection, Jesus establishes his kingdom here. We share in both his death and resurrection by dying to our old lives and living new kingdom focused lives.

No matter your age or physical circumstances, you can be a powerful part of our church’s ministry by praying for Bethel and her leaders, showing your support of their leadership as servants of Jesus as we grow deeper in our love for God and our community, and grow the kingdom of heaven. 

Why Do You Tolerate Wrong - Habakkuk 1:1-11

A little history; Habakkuk appears late in King Josiah's reign. Josiah becomes king at 8 years old after 57 years of evil kings. Josiah follows God because of his mother's influence. At 18, King Josiah repairs the temple where the book of the Law is discovered. Josiah’s horrified when he realizes that Israel hasn’t lived by God's word for a long time and tells the high priest to ask God for guidance. The prophetess Huldah gives them God's answer in 2 Kings 22, "This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched." But the prophetess also tells them that because Josiah has repented, this punishment will not happen until after Josiah dies.

King Josiah works hard to bring his people back to God. He renews the covenant with God and has the book of the covenant read aloud to everyone. Josiah tears down all the idol temples and altars and reinstates the worship of God with all the festivals and sacrifices. But it's hard leading the people back into a faithful relationship with God. For 67 years they haven’t heard the word of God read or taught by the priests and the people resist change. But hearing God’s Word, doing the sacrifices and festivals, didn’t change the hearts of many of the people or produce holiness.

Habakkuk has hard questions for God, "How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted." Why isn't God's Law creating a holy people; why does God allow evil and injustice. The nations around Israel are never going to understand who God is if this continues, why isn't God doing something to force his people back into a proper God honouring relationship for his glory?

Apathy is a common problem in many Christian churches today, so is bickering and fighting among God's people. Philip Yancy writes about how grace and love can be hard to find in many churches and it’s hard to change it. God doesn’t force us to follow him, but he does allow the consequences of our choices impact us in order to draw us back to him, as he does here with Israel. If we want to be acceptable to our culture, God’s not going to force us to choose his way over the world’s. He’s patient, but won’t allow our lack of faithfulness to go on forever.

With so many churches around, with the Bible so easy to get our hands on, with so many devotionals available and so many Christian writers, so many Bible studies, why is the church still so messed up? Why is there so much brokenness in so many Christian families? Why does the church so often feel like a social club instead of a place of transformation into the image of Jesus?

The missionary E. Stanley Jones asked Mahatma Gandhi, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?" Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ." He went on to tell Jones, “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” Ghandi rejected Christianity because when he was practicing law in South Africa, seriously exploring becoming a Christian and visited a church service. As he went to enter the church, a white South African elder stopped him, "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" the man asked Ghandi. Ghandi told him, "I'd like to attend worship here." The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps." Ghandi decided then to accept the good he found in Jesus, but never again considered joining a church.

Habakkuk wonders why God seems so quiet and so inactive and allows so much wrong to go on? God responds to Habakkuk, “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.  I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own."

God’s going to allow outsiders to punish Judah for not being faithful to him. God allows the nations, whom the Jews want to be like, to conquer them and show them exactly what it means to be just like them. This isn't something new, during the time of the Judges God often allowed the nations around Israel to come in and conquer them until the people realized just how good they actually have it when they actually follow God seriously and would turn back to God; God would then send someone to come and rescue Judah from their oppressors. However, Babylon’s much more powerful, vicious, and crueler than any other nation.

God’s telling Habakkuk, if Judah’s not going to fear God, then they’ll fear the enemy he’s going to send against them. Judah's violence and injustice to their own poor, widows, orphans, and foreigners will be repaid by a people more skilled in violence and injustice. Habakkuk has to wrestle with the knowledge that God’s getting ready to do something hard and drastic. God’s going to allow the full consequences of Judah's desire to be like the nations to play its way out and it's not going to be pretty. A lot of innocent believers are going to suffer alongside those who don't really care about God. When we choose the power of this world to guide and shape us, it always leads to violence and injustice. Speaking with an older man in our community who blames the church for all the evils of the world, I brought up the teachings of Jesus and tried to show him how it’s only when the church embraces the world’s ways of power and might instead of living out Jesus’ humility and sacrificial servant spirit, that the church brings hurt instead of Jesus’ hope and salvation.

There’s so much injustice and evil in the world, just listen to the news. Why are churches having little impact in our communities? Is it because the church has tried so hard to be acceptable to our culture instead of focusing on being holy like God is holy. We’re all sinners unable to measure up to God; we deserve to be punished. God knows that we’re unable to pay the penalty for our sin, so he sends his own son Jesus to become human to take our punishment on himself. The Jews of Jesus’ time could have asked Habakkuk’s same questions, considering Rome oppression, asking why God doesn’t act. Yet through Jesus’ death and resurrection we’re saved from the greatest oppressor Satan who can enslave our souls forever! Jesus calls us to respond to him with humble gratitude and work with his Spirit to establish the kingdom of heaven here and choose him and his way over the ways of the world. Our governments and power systems will all fall, only the kingdom of heaven is forever.

God doesn’t tolerate evil. God repeatedly says, I've chosen you to become people who are like me so that you can show the world who I am. I want you to be holy so you can show the world a more blessed way of living that looks to build others up, to help others become who God calls them to be, to be a people who are sacrificial and generous and grace filled and loving towards others so that God is honoured and glorified.

Jesus tells a parable about fruit trees, and that if you don't bear fruit, you’ll get pruned. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit as, "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." This fruit we’re called to develop in ourselves, showing others through our lives and words who a Jesus follower is, imitating Jesus. This begins in each of our homes, supported by the church. This morning Adelyn professed her faith in Jesus, committing herself to him, to be shaped by the Holy Spirit, choosing Jesus’ way over our culture’s way because she trusts Jesus. This was Josiah’s hope for the people, this is my hope for each one of us, that we begin each day telling Jesus, “I choose you today, use me.”

Following rules doesn't change us, just like following the law and doing the festivals didn't change the hearts of Judah. The Holy Spirit transforms us to become a holy people that imitate Jesus. We’re called to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit to be transformed; having our hearts of stone changed into softer hearts of flesh, walking in the way of Jesus.

Deliverance on Mount Zion - Obadiah

                    

Obadiah is one of the minor prophets found near the end of the Old Testament. Minor’s not about a lesser message from God; it’s like the difference between a short story and a novel, each telling part of God’s story, each speaking the word of the Lord to the people, often messages of judgment and restoration, helping us understand God’s plan a little better. The message this morning leans more into Israel’s history, helping us when we read the other prophets.

Obadiah’s writing to the people of Edom, condemning them for their role in the destruction of Israel by foreign nations. It’s not exactly clear when Obadiah gives his message; it could be as early as the time of Elisha, but it’s more likely during the time of Jeremiah after Israel’s taken into exile in Babylon. We see similarities between Obadiah 1-9 and Jeremiah 49 that suggest they come from the same time. Israel’s been devastated, and Edom helped Israel’s enemies defeat them. This angers the Lord because Edom comes from the line of Esau, twin brother of Jacob. This is family going up against family and this offends the Lord. Not only has Edom gone up against Israel, they’re also boastful about it and believe that no one’s powerful enough to go up against them.

Edom’s south of the Dead Sea, a mountainous area. You can still visit one of its most famous fortresses, Petra. Petra’s about 80 kilometres south of the Dead Sea in a valley plateau that’s only accessible through a narrow ravine about a mile long and ends at an enormous bluff. It’s easy to defend and Edom believed that no one would ever be able to defeat them here. When you think you’re safe and secure and others are unable to hurt you, it’s easy to become proud and cruel. This happens to Edom, and they find themselves able to take advantage of Israel and get back for perceived historical wrongs dating back to Jacob and Esau. The people of the Middle East have long memories.

The Lord comes to Obadiah with a message of judgment for Edom, but a message of hope and restoration to Israel. The Lord sees Israel’s and reassures them that he will restore them back into their land. We hear an echo back to Abraham and the Lord’s promise to bless Abram and to curse those who curse him. The Lord tells Obadiah an envoy is being sent to the nations to call them to rise up against Edom. The Lord tells Edom that he’s going to make them small and despised, that the nations are going to humiliate them for what they’ve done to Israel. There are consequences to their acts against God’s people. Edom should consider Israel family since their ancestors where the twin brothers of Isaac and Rebekah, protecting Israel instead of going up against her.

The Lord’s message is to the point, Edom thinks they’re invincible and safe, but they’re only fooling themselves. “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.” They’ve forgotten that the Lord’s more powerful than any kingdom on earth. If might is right, then the Lord is the most right. Edom’s cruelty was worse than thieves, even thieves wouldn’t take everything. “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night— oh, what a disaster awaits you! — would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes?” Even thieves leave a few grapes for the poor. It takes a special kind of hate to completely strip all the food from someone. There are consequences from the Lord, “But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!” Edom kept their treasure in caves in the cliffs; and the nations the Lord’s going to use to destroy them are going to hunt out the wealth they’ve accumulated. Edom’s pride made them trust in themselves; but to the Lord, their location, wealth, and human wisdom are nothing. Edom is going to be punished for participating in the destruction of Israel; they’ll be cast down from their heights and Israel will come home again from exile.

“All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.” This refers to people they thought were friends, “those who eat your bread,” were those Edom trusted. Sharing meals is a sign of friendship and acceptance, which is why years later the religious leaders got so angry at Jesus for the kinds of people he’s willing to share a meal with, sitting with the undesirables and those seen as unclean and unacceptable. The wisemen of Edom don’t see this betrayal coming at all. The defeat of Edom probably happens in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. The Nabateans went to the Edomites for a banquet. Once they were welcomed into the territory of Edom, the Nabateans turned against their ally and killed the guards.

 

The Nabateans were descended from Nebaioth, son of Ishmael and brother-in-law of Esau. They’re all related to each other. Their territory was south and east of the river Jordan, along the trade routes from the Far East to the Mediterranean, and their capital became Petra, after they defeated Edom. Antigonus, who gained power in Syria after Alexander’s death, sent two expeditions to Petra in 312 B.C to subdue the Nabataeans and control trade. Both were unsuccessful. Most Middle eastern peoples are related through the patriarchs of Israel, which makes these betrayals worse. This is why peace between Israel and Gaza is so hard to achieve; the anger and hatred run deep and gives a feeling of strength. The same thing happens with us too on smaller scales, some people hang onto anger rather than working towards forgiveness and reconciliation.

 

This message from the Lord is all about holding Edom accountable for their pride, lack of forgiveness; treating Israel as the “other.”  There’s a lack of trust in the other, always assuming the worst about them. We focus on differences: of skin colour, faith, in seeing and understanding the world around us differently. It’s often fuelled by politics or faith and ends in demonizing the other. We saw it happen during the pandemic, accusing the “others” of bad motives and intents rather than offering grace and understanding that each person was trying to do what they thought was best for their family. We’re influenced by the world to think in terms of the “other” instead of recognizing that we’re all created in God’s image, and that God desires that no one be lost.

 

Edom and Israel, also thought like this, leading to hatred and gloating when the other is hurt, allowing them to treat the “other” in horrible ways and justifying it because they’re not like us, creating brokenness. Jesus comes to bring reconciliation between us and God by taking our sin in himself, washing us clean from our sin. Jesus comes to destroy the power of sin that brings brokenness, and to draw us to himself. On Mount Zion, Jesus prays for unity among his followers, Jesus is then sacrificed to bring in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is revealed as the King of kings before whom all the nations will bend their knee. Jesus is returning on the Day of the Lord to hold the nations, and each one of us, accountable for our actions. God’s people don’t need fear this day of accountability as Jesus has stood in our place before the judge of the universe and paid the price for our role in creating brokenness in the world. There’s this beautiful picture of all humanity coming together in Psalm 86:9, “All the nations You have made will come and bow before you, O Lord, and they will glorify your name.”

We’re called to this ministry of reconciliation, calling the world to believe in Jesus as their Lord, working towards reconciliation here on earth. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14–20, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Reconciliation needs the willingness to confess our role in broken relationships, personally and as nations; to forgive as Jesus forgives us; and to do the hard work of healing that reconciliation brings, as Jesus brings us healing through reconciling us with God. We’re unable to do this on our own, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to grow the fruit of the Spirit in us. It takes courage and a reliance on Jesus to move towards others to build the unity Jesus prays for in John 17. Are we willing to be such a church?