Spiritual Seasons: Season 2: Rooting - Psalm 1

This morning we’re reflecting on the season in our lives of rooting, of growing deeper in our relationship and knowledge of God, shaping our hearts according to who God is calling us to be. The psalms are part of what we call Wisdom Literature in the Bible. Wisdom in scripture is about living in healthy ways with God, each other, ourselves, and creation. Wisdom is practical, about how we live. Psalm 1 sets the foundation for the rest of the psalms, showing us where we find wisdom, we find it in God’s word to us, “Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” The word translated as “law” is “torah” in Hebrew means “instruction, teaching, guidance, law, or rule.” Torah, as used in the psalms, means all of these things. In the psalms, it’s the first 5 books of the Bible, the books of Moses. These are the foundational books of scripture, teaching us our beginnings, emphasizing that our identity’s rooted in God, teaching who we’re called to be as God’s people, how we’re to live for God and with each other, pointing us to the coming of Jesus and the redemption from our sin and restoration of our relationship with God. These themes are all carried forward through the rest of scripture.

Psalm 1 is a psalm of blessing that comes from setting our roots in a nourishing source of water. The seed has to die in order to grow, it’s planted underground and then its shell breaks open so the nourishment can bring life through its developing roots. We need to die to the person we are in order to grow into who God is growing us into. Likewise, this water comes from a stream that’s been intentionally guided into the fields or vineyards so the trees have easy access to this source of life. The Hebrew word for stream describes an irrigation canal deliberately built for a vineyard or garden. It’s a psalm of contrast, the tree whose roots are planted by the streams of water yields its fruit in season, its leaves never wither, even in times of drought and stress. The farmer or vineyard keeper has ensured that the tree’s roots can grow deep because its source of life is always near and accessible.

The farmer can do everything they can to help the plants grow deep roots, yet they cannot force the plant to seek the water; this is something God has created into the seed. The same’s true for us. God’s created us in his own image, given us life through the gift of his breath. We’re created to seek him, yet not everyone does. The contrast in the psalm is those who walk with the wicked, stand with sinners, or sits with mocker won’t grow strong, won’t find nourishment, instead they’ll be worthless chaff that has no substance, that’s blown away by the wind because it is nothing more than dry dust.

This is echoed in Jeremiah 17:5–8, “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Roots grow slowly, feeding deeply from the nutrients in the soil and water. Deep faith roots come from drinking deeply and consistently from the living water that comes from Jesus who is the water of life. These roots grow from the nutrients that are found in the regular meditation on the Word of God. Growth doesn’t come quickly; going deeper in your relationship with God, Jesus, comes through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. Rooting is about establishing our identity in God, living into our identity as children of God, created in his image to be his representatives in the world. As Mireya C, the person who developed this devotional series observes, even Paul took 3 years after his conversion to Jesus, getting away to learn, unlearn, pray, and being formed. It wasn’t wasted. It was a rooting season. God was growing him downward before using him outward. Before Paul preached or wrote letters, he had to grow in grace instead of law, in truth instead of tradition.

What you drink and eat spiritually shapes the health and the strength of your faith. This is about having a lifelong pattern of feeding your heart, of drinking deeply and regularly from the stream of water that is Jesus. Paul writes in Colossians 2:6–8, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Seeds are created to grow roots when they’re planted, but they need a healthy environment and nutrients in order to grow deep roots: good soil, sunlight, and warmth are important elements that aid growing deep strong healthy roots.

Roots reach out to whatever is available to help them grow, even if the water source is polluted, or the soil is dead or poisoned, making it difficult or even impossible for the seed to grow healthy roots. Pollution and poison look like the values that are foundational to our culture which are rooted in individualism, greed, always focused on more, always looking to divide rather than build. We live in a shallow dry culture. It comes from our drinking from streams of social media and influencers; leading to over-busyness and a lack of time for family devotional times and deep faith conversations. We suffer from wanting to do everything that brings us temporary pleasure without emphasizing growing deeper roots into what’s eternal.

Deep spiritual roots don’t come just because you’re breathing, deep roots come from healthy diets and ways of living. Many people may look healthy on the outside, but inside are rotting. Faith is not passive, faith engages Jesus to grow, even, or especially in difficult times. But to grow in difficult times, we’ll reflect on this in the next spiritual season, we need to grow deep roots that tap into the nourishment, the living water that is Jesus. The goal is, as Paul writes in Ephesians 3, “that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Understanding Jesus’ love comes from spiritual strength, not just human intellect.

The church has recognized over the years the importance of deliberately and systematically developing ways to grow deeper in our faith, to grow our roots deep into Jesus. The church developed spiritual practices aimed at nurturing spiritual growth and deepening our relationship with God. Examples of spiritual practices include things like prayer, Bible study, worship, solitude, acts of service, and various forms of self-reflection and self-examination. Look at Jesus; he regularly spent time with God in prayer, he learned scripture, he spent time in the synagogue to worship, he served others, all part of how he grew in grace and truth. Here in Bethel, our faith formation is being built on scripture reading, prayer, and worship.

Growing strong roots happens by going deep down into our relationships with Jesus, intertwining our roots together with others. Many of the spiritual practices focus on community, think of worship, serving, and even the study of scripture. Aspen trees share a single, massive underground root system, giving them strength, while beech trees frequently grow in dense groves and send up root sprouts, leading to tight networks where touching roots and trunks naturally intertwine creating strength and the ability to survive storms or floods, and can pass water, minerals, and sugars between trees, allowing healthy mature trees to support weaker or younger saplings.

At the root of spiritual practices is love; the spiritual practices help us grow deeper in our love for God and that gets lived out in love for others. They call us to spend time with God in prayer, reflection, and Scripture, but they’re also meant to be practiced with others, think worship and acts of service. Philip Yancy in his book Vanishing Grace writes about a friend of his who realized that he had never been taught how to love, even though the Bible calls us to love God and our neighbours. So he began to ask people to think about one question, “When have I felt loved?” For myself, I realised I felt love when someone shows respect, not for my position, but simply because of who I am as a person and engages with what I’m thinking or feeling at the time, when someone encourages me or challenges me because they want to help me grow, when someone simply cares when I’m hurting. “When have you felt loved?” Your answer can help you to show love to others. The book on love languages by Gary Chapman is a good resource to understand different ways in how we receive love and how we offer love. This grows deeper roots into Jesus and your faith.

Showing love for God seems easier than love for others until we realise that we grow our love for God through loving others. Love often looks like kindness in an unkind graceless world. Kindness sees the other person as someone created in the image of God and is precious and valuable even if we might see and understand life differently. There’s so much casual cruelty in our world; we find it easy to talk others down, it’s easy to speak causal cruelty meant to hurt others.

Our faith is also determined by what we watch, read, and listen to, the people we look up to and admire and imitate, and the types of seeds we allow to be planted in our hearts and souls. Following Jesus is very much a character formation journey, becoming more like him. Jesus challenges us to be aware of what we feed on, on where we turn to for nourishment to grow deep roots, on who we’re being called to become as his people. Paul focuses on this in Galatians 5 when he calls us to grow the Fruit of the Spirit rather than the fruit of our culture’s values and ways.  

As the Psalmist reminds us, “delighting in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night,” is the path to rootedness in Jesus. Rooting happens in the presence of God, leading to flourishing and growth, to strength and resiliency, done individually and in community. God’s responsible for the outcome, trust that he’s working. Stay planted in prayer, the Word, service, and worship even when no one’s watching.

 

Spiritual Seasons: Season 1: Planting - Psalm 126

We’re beginning a new series on Spiritual Seasons. God leads us through these different seasons to help us grow deeper in our faith, to refresh our faith, and to challenge us in our faith, but through it all the Holy Spirit is with us. We’re beginning with image of planting, as what we plant in our hearts shapes how we journey through the other seasons in our lives. Psalm 126 has its roots in Israel’s 70-year exile to Babylon. In 539 BC, the Persian king Cyrus conquered Babylon and issued a decree allowing captive peoples to return to their homelands and rebuild their cities and temples. You can read this history in 2 Chronicles 36 and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah see God’s hand at work in this unexpected liberation, Ezra 1, “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.”

Psalm 126 is a song written to celebrate Israel’s return to their land, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.” After 70 years, many of them had given up hope on ever returning home, so this is a dream come true. This explains the references to sowing with tears, as many tears over the years had been shed as they confessed how they had drifted away from God, and the painful journey of repentance and punishment for their sin.

This morning, we celebrated our Commissioning service, offering a blessing to our teachers who will be planting biblical seeds in our children and youth, knowing that we need to continually be aware that planting is a regular part of our spiritual lives. The seeds that are planted in our hearts, souls, and minds will determine what kind of harvest our lives will produce. Our culture is constantly at work trying to sow its seeds and values in us, and many of their seeds are just weeds. We need to be deliberate in what type of seeds are planted within us. We’re called to invite the Holy Spirit to plant deep in our souls, knowing that what we allow to be planted in our hearts and souls, we’ll harvest later on; as the psalmist writes, “Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”

We begin with preparing the soil of our hearts. The planting season is a time of faithful obedience, often coming out of a time of repentance and recommitment to Jesus. God calls us to prepare the soil, plant seeds, and trust him for the growth. This is season characterised by patience and perseverance, reminding us that spiritual fruit comes from both God’s power and our daily faithfulness. Seeds are being sown. Planting’s not a solitary thing, we do plant in ourselves, but there are also others who plant into us. We also plant into others; think of parenting, mentoring, our teaching ministries, and even friendships. Paul recognizes this in 1 Corinthians 3:6–7, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” This morning we’re focusing mainly on planting seeds of faith and character in our own hearts, while recognizing that as the seeds planted in our hearts grow, they will be spread to others, like how plants release their seeds and the wind or animals will then spread them.

What kind of seeds are you allowing to be planted in your heart, what seeds are you cultivating in yourselves. Some seeds are weeds like bitterness, pride, gracelessness, non-forgiveness, and others like these. When they’re planted, they quickly overwhelm the healthy seeds. The kind of seeds we plant in ourselves shape who we are and who we’re becoming. What we watch and see is seed planting. We are a visual culture and so the shows we watch, the websites we visit, the reels we watch, the books we read is seed planting, so we need to be very conscious of what we allow into our hearts through our eyes. As Paul writes in Galatians 6:7–9, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Scripture guides us in what kinds of seeds to plant, and what seeds not to plant.

Bitterness is a seed that gets planted when we allow the actions and attitudes of others towards us hurt and there’s a sense of being wronged. Sometimes bitterness finds healthy soil because we’re unsettled in our own spirits; hurt or self doubt allows critical words or actions find soil to begin to grow. Bitterness can come when our work and effort is unappreciated, when we feel unseen, misunderstood, or disrespected. Sometimes this is the case, but sometimes Satan’s influence and lies find a home in our self doubt, creating bitterness. Often bitterness leads to wanting to hurt and shame others.

The seed to plant to counter bitterness is trust in God, training ourselves to recognise who we are in his eyes, how we are his precious children, and that what is often overlooked, unseen, or misunderstood is seen by our heavenly father. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Prayer’s important to uprooting bitterness, being honest with God in prayer in a way that’s often hard to do because it reveals things we don’t want to see. It’s important to have a safe person you can share with who will hold your hurt and bitterness with gentleness, someone who sees you through the eyes of God, who sees who you are and loves you for you.

Pride is a seed that gets easily planted today because our culture keeps telling us that we’re special, that we deserve the best, that our truth is reality, that we have no need to serve others because we should be the ones being served. Satan usually doesn’t have to work hard to plant this one.

The seed to plant to counter pride is humility. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus calls us to be servants, and even slaves rather than kings and bosses. We need to train our eyes to recognise the gifts that others have and the humility and love to help them flourish. We also need someone who is brave enough to call out our pride, to help us see who we really are; not talking down to us, but helping us to recognise not only our strengths, but also our weaknesses.

Gracelessness is a seed that causes us to look down on others, to see the worse, and attribute the worse motives to them, especially should they make a mistake. Gracelessness is rooted in self-centeredness, making everything all about you. It’s about reading motives into a strangers look; it’s about labeling entire groups of people in negative ways simply because they’re different from you. It’s about with holding forgiveness or mercy to others.

Grace is the seed to be planted here, to offer grace, which is undeserved, simply because we have been saved by God’s grace. Grace often looks like kindness, like gentleness, and in our world today, these things are all to often in short supply. Our culture is filled with lots of anger and judgement and condemnation. Kindness and gentleness are sorely needed more today than perhaps any time in history. We all need someone to show us grace when we mess up, and walk with us to encourage and build us up in grace. Paul hi-lights the wonder of grace in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” God’s grace leads to faith in him.

Unforgiveness is a seed that gets planted when we hang onto our anger or fear after we’ve been hurt by someone. Unforgiveness is a strong seed because it feels like it’s giving us strength in our pain, it feels justified and right, especially when the one who hurt us doesn’t confess their part in your hurt, doesn’t acknowledge the pain created.

Forgiveness is the seed to plant in our hearts, beginning with accepting that Jesus has forgiven us for our sins. Planting this seed guides us to confess our sin, but also to remember that we are precious to God as his children. Forgiving others flows out of remembering that the other person is also loved by God and is our neighbour. This doesn’t mean it’s easy, it also doesn’t mean that the consequences for their actions are forgotten. Love often looks like consequences so that wisdom is learned and responsibility accepted. It doesn’t mean that the relationship needs to be the same, making sure you’re safe is important. Then there’s self-forgiveness. Sometimes we can hate ourselves and hang onto our sin, living as if God can’t forgive our sins, as if we’re unworthy of forgiveness. We make God less, cheapen his unconditional love for us, and we lessen the power of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin.

You may not see growth right away; this is a time for patience, for perseverance, but it’s happening below the surface. Just as God was working in his people during the time of exile, growing their faith and commitment deeper towards him even though they didn’t always recognize it, so God’s working in us to grow us deeper in our faith in Jesus, doing his work deep quietly, establishing our roots in Jesus. This is a time of quiet continual obedience and trust as the Holy Spirit nourishes your souls and faith. 

 

The Day of the Lord - 2 Peter 3

Peter comes to the end of the letter to the church by encouraging them of the coming of Jesus’ return, something often referred to in the Bible as the Day of the Lord. Peter’s writing them to encourage them, to stimulate them to wholesome thinking. The word Peter uses for wholesome has the elements of “pure” and “sincerity” in it, calling for their thinking to reflect on truth rooted in Jesus, confessing that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This flows out of his strong warning about the coming of false teachers. Peter’s encouraging them to not get passive about their faith, but to stay engaged in their relationship with Jesus, to keep learning and being who they’re called to be as God’s people.

The false teachers will face the consequences of their false teaching; we read about those consequences in the part of chapter 2 we didn’t focus on last week. Peter gives a strong warning as he leads into his warning, and encouragement, about Jesus’ return. The false teachers will face punishment for leading the people away from Jesus. Peter reminds them of the flood and of Sodom and Gomorrah, about the blackest darkness being reserved for them, a dark separation from the light and life of God. This is where Jesus’ return now enters into Peter’s letter.

Peter acknowledges that Jesus is taking longer to return than expected, and that the false teachers are going to use this against them, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” They’ve no fear of consequences from God. God has no real meaning or place in their lives no matter how often they say his name; no moral or ethical foundation rooted in God’s law or Jesus’ teachings and example; no impact on their character formation. God gives us the law to shape us into his own character, calling us to holiness, to be more like Jesus; into the people God created us to be in our humanity as image bearers of God.

Leading up to the Day of the Lord, there will be increasing numbers of those who deny Jesus, who will mock believers for believing in Jesus’ return. Today, people scoff believers for believing in a God who cannot be seen, who’s only a fairy tale, an escape from reality for the weak. We need to prepare our youth for this as they enter into the world. Many people have forgotten, or dismissed Jesus’ return. The first prophet to point to the Day of the Lord is Amos in 5:18–20 “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?” The prophet Joel 1:15 also spoke often of the coming day, “Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.”

There’s no fear of punishment or consequences. Peter knows this, “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” Water and fire are about cleansing and purification. Fire purifies, think of the Old Testament’s imagery of the metal worker. The Day of the Lord is the day when God steps in to punish the world’s sin, when Jesus comes to separate the sheep and the goats, separating those who’ve accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour from those who’ve chosen themselves or other gods as their object of worship. The Day of the Lord is about both restoration and judgment: restoration for those who’ve chosen Jesus, judgment for those who’ve chosen themselves as their god.

Peter moves on to reflecting on why Jesus’ return is taking so long, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Jesus is taking a long time so people have opportunities to repent and believe, and for that to happen, followers of Jesus need to be more engaged with those who haven’t yet repented, with those who don’t really know who Jesus is, to show them the wonder, the grace, the life-changing transformation found in the hope and peace that comes from repenting from our sin; turning away from our old ways; believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour of the world. This goes back to Peter’s call to confirm our calling and election by our life transformation that comes from growing in the fruit of the Spirit. How we live, not only what we say we believe, is important in leading someone to Jesus; they go hand in hand.

Jesus’ return will be unexpected; Peter refers to parables about the Day of the Lord that Jesus told. Peter echoes their messages, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” Because we don’t know when Jesus is returning, it’s important that we work hard at living holy and godly lives, showing the world the God we serve through how we live. My grandfather would remind us before we went out with our friends, to always act like Jesus is there with us.

This is what Paul is getting at in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Paul uses the picture of a king coming to visit one of his cities. The leaders would call the citizens to clean the city and prepare for the king's arrival. The streets were cleaned, the buildings whitewashed so that as the sun rises or sets on the city, they would shine. The king would time his arrival for sunrise and approach from the west so that the rising sun shines on the city, making it gleam. Think of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven; gleaming in splendour. Watchers set outside the city and on the city walls let everyone know as soon the king comes into sight so everyone can go out to greet their king.

Paul warns about the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5, “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” We’re being used by God in his plan of redemption to restore and renew creation to speed its coming. I’m not completely sure what Peter’s getting at here, but it does remind us that how we live, what we do are important parts of God’s plans. So we ask questions like, “Are we ready for Jesus’ return,” “are we helping our world become ready.” It takes courage to follow Jesus, take self-discipline and a willingness to do the hard things to live true to Jesus.

Until Jesus returns, we’re called to continue growing deeper in our faith, to shape our lives on Jesus, to look and act more like Jesus each day, encouraging and building each other up in the faith; getting involved in our society and neighbourhoods as part of developing creation in the arts, culture, music, business, politics, and more to reflect God’s values and will. God gives us skills and abilities to develop and help your family, your church, your community, your workplace, your places of play to flourish, and he calls you to invest in these things as part of preparing for Jesus’ return.

What we believe matters. The Reformed view of Jesus’ return fills us with hope for the future and a call to be deeply invested in living out our faith in Jesus; good news that can shape our lives, the lives of those around us, and the flourishing of the communities we live in.

 

False Teachers - 2 Peter 2

                           

In the first part of his letter, Peter mentions how they, the apostles, are not following cleverly created stories about Jesus because they actually knew, lived with, and followed Jesus personally; seeing Jesus’ divinity and humanity in real life. Peter moves into talking about how prophecy comes from the Holy Spirit and its interpretation doesn’t come from the prophets themselves, but from and through the Holy Spirit. Now Peter warns us about false prophets and teachers. To be able to recognize them and their teaching, it’s important to know what we believe and why.

Peter writes, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” Peter doesn’t see or hear false teachers in their churches yet, but he’s warning them that they will show up.

Jesus has always been a controversial because his claims and teachings are rooted in his identity as the Son of God; Jesus is not simply human, he’s also divine. This adds great responsibility on his followers to accept his teaching and life as the foundation of our lives. This is part of why false teachers showed up early on, putting their own spin and interpretation on who Jesus is and what he taught. Peter calls us to be aware of false teachers and to learn to recognize their false teachings. Peter reminds the people to keep remembering, learning about what Jesus did and taught; and to keep learning about how Jesus lived out his relationship with God among and with the people.

Early on in the church, there were false teachings about Jesus already appearing. Peter may be thinking about Jewish believers who’ve also been influenced by Greek ways of thinking and philosophical movements. He may also be speaking out against charlatans who created their own teachings to appeal to those who were sceptical; teachers who mixed a little bit of truth with their own teachings. Paul in Romans 6 talks of teachers telling the people that the more we sin the greater God’s grace looks, other teachers taught that salvation depended on the secret knowledge they’ve been given by the Lord.

There are still many false teachers today. Peter talks about false prophets and teachers, carrying on from chapter 1 where he teaches that prophets spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, but now he’s turning his focus on those prophets who spoke their own words instead of God’s words. Peter is concerned about teachers who even deny Jesus. You can identify false teachers because they tend to either lower the importance of Jesus, or they raise themselves and humanity higher in importance.

A study last year by Lifeway Research found that 28% of evangelicals believed that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God, 53% believe that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being, 47% believe God accepts the worship of all religions, 17% believe that the Holy Spirit can tell me to do something that is forbidden in the Bible, 17% believe the Bible is not literally true, while 19% believe that modern science disproves the Bible.

Most false teachers reject the Law, setting it up against the gospel. One of the most pervasive examples of this today is the growth of the Prosperity Gospel in the church. This is not just a North American issue. When I was in East Africa with World Missions about 14 years ago, I had coffee with a pastor in Kenya and asked what his greatest challenge was. He told me the prosperity gospel was the greatest challenge because it treated God as a God who will give you what you want. A form of this gospel is called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. Martin Horton writes about its dangerous influence in Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church. It teaches that there’s a God who exists who created the world and watches over human life on earth. God wants people to be good and fair to each other like the Bible and other religions teach. The goal in life is to be happy and feel good about who you are. God will bless you when you give to him. As long as you’re good, you go to heaven. There’s no need for Jesus or discipleship.

There’s no need for Jesus’ birth, life, sacrifice, or resurrection. You don’t even need to believe in Jesus; you don’t need his grace. It makes us feel good about ourselves, and yet in the end it lacks comfort or true hope. We’re all sinners in need of a saviour, we’re unable to save ourselves, no matter how many good works we do. God didn’t give up on humanity, but guides history so that at the right time Jesus came and took our sin on himself, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead so that we’re freed from our sin, washed clean from our sin when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We follow God’s commands out of gratitude because God gives us the Law out of love and to shape us in his image. In the meantime, we are part of God’s plan of renewal and restoration, here to prepare the world for Jesus’ return.

Paul speaks to this in 1 Timothy 1:3–11, “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”

False teachers are usually in it for their own personal gain and influence. They want you to accept their version of truth. Modern day false teachers tell us that truth is different for everyone and we can determine our own truth.  Dr. Francis Collins wrote a book that defends the idea that truth really exists. Dr. Collins observes, if you claim that you think tattoos are really cool, that may be true for you but not for everyone; it’s a matter of taste and opinion. But when we have firmly recognised facts, like 2+2=4 and that the law of gravity is real and it’s a good thing to pay attention to when you are walking along the edge of a cliff, those are established facts, and they’re true for everybody. As Dr. Collins said, facts don’t care about how you feel about them. Truth is truth, but you need to know what truth is, which is why we’ve been given Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

False prophets and teachers aren’t new, Israel often experienced their destructive presence: Jeremiah 23:16, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.” The Old Testament is filled with false prophets. Many false stories about Jesus began circulating right after his resurrection; Matthew tells us how the soldiers at the tomb were paid to say that Jesus’ body was stolen by disciples, that his resurrection was fake.

Peter warns that God will not allow the false teachers and prophets to go unpunished for their actions; this is God’s grace, warning false teachers to not lead his people away from him. Jesus in Matthew 18:6, Jesus warns about leading children astray, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” God doesn’t take false teachers lightly, he will hold them accountable for their actions, justice and righteousness will come in the end when Jesus returns.

The way of righteousness comes from the knowledge of Jesus and walking in his way. It’s not easy to stand up for the truth as found in Scripture, yet if we choose the ways of the world and its false teachers, God’s clear that there are consequences to our choices, but Peter uses Noah and Lot as examples on how God protects his people during these times of punishment.

We’re called to be discerning when we listen to teachers of God. Think of the Bereans in Acts 17. Luke describes them as “being of more noble character than those is Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” To understand Scripture, we turn to the whole Bible, letting Scripture interpret Scripture. We study humbly, knowing that there is so much more to God that we will never understand, yet trusting that God reveals all we need to know of him at this time in Scripture. We do not need secret knowledge for our salvation; all we need is the finished work of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. This is why God calls his people to gather together regularly to read Scripture, to encourage and build each other in the Lord, and to worship God, reminding us of who Jesus is and responding to him in thankfulness and gratitude, keeping us connected to the truth, to Jesus.

 

Confirming Your Election and Calling - 2 Peter 1

     

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reflecting on Peter’s second letter. We’re not sure exactly which church Peter is writing to, but since he was martyred during the reign of Nero which was from 54-68 AD, and Peter’s ministry occurred mostly in the western part of Asia Minor, it’s likely a circular letter written to a number of churches in the area. Peter’s letter is not just applicable for his time; it’s still applicable today. In his letter, Peter teaches us how to think about God, ourselves, sin, obedience, worship, suffering, community, and hope. His letter invites us to come close to Jesus to understand and respond to him. It’s a letter written to warn about false teachers, and to stir us out of spiritual laziness. Peter reminds us that God’s working with real people in real places; his letter’s not about throwing ideas about who Jesus is out to everyone, he points us to Jesus who acts, speaks, judges, saves, and guides his people.

Peter begins by acknowledging himself as both a slave to, and an apostle of, Jesus Christ. He greets the people, reminding them of the gift of faith they’ve been given; a faith rooted in God’s and Jesus’ righteousness. I always appreciate how the letter writers in the New Testament greet the people by offering them both grace and peace through Jesus. Both are powerful blessings to offer someone. A dear Jewish friend always greeted me with “Shalom my brother, Yahweh’s grace to you today.” There’s something centering and soothing to your soul when you receive this kind of greeting from a friend, creating trust.

One of Peter’s main themes, especially in chapter 1, is spiritual growth. Growth comes through our choices and consequences, through prayer, God’s promises, and in how God deals with his people. A second big theme is truth and what truth looks like when God speaks to his people. Truth is rooted in our relationship God and his trustworthiness; this is why Jesus says that he is the way, the truth, and the life. For Christians, faith in Jesus Christ forms the foundation of our spiritual life. Paul expresses this clearly: salvation comes “by grace...through faith,” which is God’s gift rather than anything we do. Biblical faith means believing in God’s character and His promises; grounded in God’s nature as revealed in Scripture. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” a deep confidence that transforms future promises into present reality. Unlike everyday human trust based on experience, biblical faith trusts in what stays unseen, resting completely on confidence in God.

Peter writes in verses 3-4, that Jesus calls us to a godly life, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Jesus gives us everything we need for a godly life through the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Our knowledge comes through knowing Jesus; his life and teaching, his death, and resurrection. Knowing in the Scriptures is not so much about head knowledge like the Greeks, it’s more about knowing through relationship. Peter doesn’t let us off the hook of our sinful desires and ways easily with a simple, “Just try harder.” Rather than a passive gaining of information, biblical knowing involves actively participating in the covenant relationship. If you know Jesus, you know and have the power to say “no” to temptation and our evil desires because through his promises, we participate in his divine nature. This becomes powerfully true through the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, but that we can.

For Peter, faith is rooted in our relationship with Jesus which is then lived out in our daily lives. This is how we live into sanctification. Sanctification is living our salvation out, becoming more and more like Jesus. This is where Peter goes now in verse 5-7, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” Sanctification is about responding to Jesus and the cross.

Change is God’s call to us, telling us that he loves us too much to not change us through his Spirit; we’re able to say “no” to ungodliness and sin because of the strength of the Holy Spirit. It’s not like we have to figure this out on our own. Jesus knows our weaknesses and temptations, he gives us his help to resist, his help is personal to each of us; Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” 2 Peter 1 is about our identity as found in Christ, shaped by Christ, and for Christ.

Faith is our relationship with Jesus lived out with those around us. This is why Peter focuses here on both our relationship with Jesus in goodness, knowledge, and godliness; focusing on self-control and perseverance; and living well with others within the body of Christ through mutual affection and love. We hear echoes of this in Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

Peter now commands his readers, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Verse 10 was previously translated, “be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.” A more literal reading of the Greek is, “rather, be zealous to put into force your calling and election.” This sentence is an imperative and clear in its intent, even if the translations vary a little, it’s a command: we’re called to live out our faith and calling as a child of God. We are called to produce good fruit, “confirming our election;” living in the abundance of being in Christ. The word used “to confirm,” is a call to show our calling to follow Jesus is true, and that through how they’ve embraced Jesus’ call and teaching in their lives, they’re not likely to fall away as they live out what they believe in Jesus. 

Peter’s not calling us to earn our salvation or election; he’s calling us to actually live what we believe. The Heidelberg Catechism, after its teaching on the Apostle’s Creed asks in Q & A 60, “How are you righteous before God?” The answer is so comforting, “Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments, of never having kept any of them, and of still being inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is accept this gift with a believing heart.” Sanctification and confirming our election are all about responding to Jesus and the cross, to being changed through the gift of his new life. We go back to 2 Peter 1:4, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

We’re saved to do good works, to show God we are thankful and to praise him, we do good works so that we can be assured of our faith through its fruit, and we do good works so that others might be won over to Christ. James writes in 2:14–16 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” Jesus tells his disciples in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

We’re chosen, elected to bear fruit, so that through our lives, others can see our belief and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and are transformed through the Holy Spirit. We reveal what the kingdom of heaven is like through how we live our lives Jesus’ way. The world needs the kingdom of heaven now, needs people shaped and inspired by the kingdom to build the kingdom values and ways into our community here so that the world can be given a glimpse and example of hope, of grace, and of the new life found in Jesus, working with the Holy Spirit in stirring a desire and need to be part of God’s family too.

Walking in the Truth - 3 John

                                   

We live in a very different culture than when John writes this letter, and yet people are not really all that different, no matter when or where we live. The early church historian Eusebius dates this letter from John to after John’s exile to the island of Patmos, where John wrote the last letter of the Bible Revelation. After his exile, John went on a missionary journey, visiting various churches and even went into areas not yet evangelized, offering encouragement and wisdom to the churches already established and sharing the gospel of Jesus with those who hadn’t heard about Jesus yet. This was a time of travelling missionaries; John himself is one of these travelling missionaries.

John likely writes this letter from Ephesus, where he spent some time with the church there. Both this letter and 2 John are about travelling missionaries, but for different reasons. In 2 John, John warns the churches about false teachers. These false teachers may respect Jesus as a great prophet, but they don’t recognize him as the Son of God and promised Messiah. John’s warning them against supporting Gnostic teachers. In John’s time, Gnosticism was just beginning to develop as a belief system. Gnostic teachers believed that people could only be saved through revealed knowledge, or γνῶσις. Gnostics held a negative view of the physical world; salvation was only about the soul. Early church fathers, such as Irenaeus, considered Gnosticism heretical because only those who had access to special knowledge were saved. John urges wisdom about supporting these teachers who taught heresy rather than the gospel of Jesus. He even tells them that anyone who welcomes these false teachers’ is sharing in their work. In a culture where hospitality was extremely important, this is a powerful call to the churches about the extreme danger false teachers were. That danger is still present today, especially with the growth of social media.

A recent study shows that approximately 50% of Christians today turn to social media for spiritual growth; the study also acknowledges many people today no longer have the ability to discern truth from falsehood. Satan often disguises himself as an angel of light; this is why it’s becoming important in the church and our homes today to teach Scripture and learn how to recognize what’s true and what’s false. If someone is making Jesus less and humanity more, be careful. Satan often uses a little bit of truth to entice us into beliefs that are false, leading us away from Jesus rather than towards Jesus. This is why faith formation is so important, why we focus on Scripture reading, prayer, and worship as a church family to equip our homes, not social media. The center of forming our faith comes through reading the Bible as a family, praying together, and worshipping the Lord in everything we do: our work, our play, our rest are all shaped by who God is and our relationship with him. Discipling our children in Jesus is the first and most important job we have.

In 3 John, John encourages the church, through Gaius, to welcome in travelling teachers and missionaries who have dedicated themselves to teaching the gospel news of Jesus and helping the churches grow deeper in their faith. John’s older now, which you hear in the tone of his letters. He sees Gaius as a dear friend, calling him ‘beloved.” John mentions how he received a wonderful report about Gaius’ faithfulness to the truth, how he walks in the truth; how Gaius is walking in the way of Jesus, faithfully following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This flows into his joy in hearing how Gaius is taking care of the visiting teachers and evangelists who were travelling through, and staying to do ministry in the city and area. These brothers in the faith were so impressed by Gaius’ hospitality that they made special mention of it when they reported their experiences at a church where John was attending.

Hospitality, the willingness to invite people into your life, making sure that the foreigner and stranger are looked after, was important during this time in history. The Old Testament presents hospitality as both a practical necessity and a religious command rooted in God’s character. In a world without inns or hostels, hospitality was crucial for travellers, business people, prophets, and the vulnerable; providing food, a place to stay, and protection. Yet hospitality was about more than just survival; at its core are both religious and social features; hospitality serves as a response to God’s own kindness toward Israel. Most travellers relied on the hospitality and generosity of strangers when travelling. This was especially true for the early missionaries and teachers that John’s talking about here who’ve dedicated themselves to sharing the gospel news of Jesus without a church or structure in place to support them financially. Many of these missionaries would receive some help from already established home churches, but it was often limited and sporadic. They needed to rely on local support wherever the Lord led them. John’s main point here is that Gaius and the church should help and support those who are working for Jesus, working together for the truth. Even today, as we share the truth of who is Jesus locally, we’re fellow workers with those who are called to share the gospel of Jesus elsewhere.

Hospitality has always been one of the key marks of the Jewish people and their faith. Its roots lie in the experience of how Abraham and Sarah act with generosity in their hospitality, reflecting an early expectation that once a traveller made himself known, generous hospitality was expected, with the hosts offering rest, refreshment, and a meal. The importance of hospitality appears latter on again in Lot’s welcome of visitors in Sodom and Gomorrah and how this led to his family being spared the destruction of the cities. The writer of Hebrews is thinking of these stories when he writes, Hebrews 13:2, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Hospitality isn’t just a way of life for followers of Jesus; it’s commanded by God. Leviticus 19:33–34, “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” God gives this command because the people of Israel were foreigners themselves in Egypt, and at least at first, were treated with hospitality and grace in the time of Joseph. Later on, Israel was commanded to leave grain and grapes for the poor and foreigners so they could eat. Hospitality is not just for the stranger, it’s also to be extended to your neighbour.

Israel is commanded to show hospitality to foreigners because God loves them too. God clearly commanded Israel to care for the widow, orphan, and stranger and sent prophets to remind Israel over and over again of the importance of hospitality. Jesus shows how hospitality is central to who God is when he tells his followers in Matthew 25, that those who extend radical hospitality by giving water to the thirsty, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and prisoner, are actually serving him. How a person received guests, by providing water for dusty feet, think of Jesus washing his disciple’s feet, revealed the host’s character and commitment to honouring God. As one commentary writes, “From a social perspective, hospitality created networks of human interdependence designed to secure basic necessities for those at disadvantage, especially the poor and landless. Ultimately, hospitality represented Israel’s response to both divine love and human need.” Through the early church’s hospitality, the gospel news spread to all corners of the Roman empire, including the heart of the empire, the palace of the emperor himself.

Yet, the church’s history is filled with those who’ve loved power over servanthood; at the heart of hospitality is a generous servant heart. We don’t know what Diotrephes’ beliefs were, whether he was gnostic or simply power-hungry, but he was willing to use his power to deny hosting travelling missionaries, and even kicking those who did help them out of the church. This is such a departure from Jesus’ teaching on servanthood for leaders.

So how does John’s letter to Gaius fit for today? We support our missionaries both on the field and during their home service; servants like Selena, Margaret, the VanderMeers, and other missionaries we’ve committed to helping. We support local missionaries such as Nikki and CAYU, in a similar way, the Broomtree serves a mission field with mission workers. Supporting these workers and organizations are ways of living out the call to hospitality as we work together for the truth.

But it’s even applicable closer to home, pastors and all those working full-time in the church trust that God will encourage his people to provide for their needs as they do their work for Jesus and the church. It’s better that we err on the side of generosity than on the side of stinginess so that those who work for the church to equip us to grow deeper in our faith, our love of Jesus, and to invite our community to repent and believe in Jesus, can do their work without worrying about how to provide for their families. Hospitality is more than financial support; it’s also about relationship. Often within a church, staff are known for what they do, not for who they are. We have an interesting staff, some chuckle if you mention 42 or the importance of a towel, some are old souls who love old devotionals, some like quadding and camping, others love learning new things, while some enjoy sports and Taco Tuesdays. Hospitality’s about inviting people into your lives and hearts, what do you know about our staff as people?

Jesus reveals the kingdom of heaven as a place of generous hospitality, where the king’s servants go into the hi-ways and byways to bring people into the banquet, where those who are last shall be first, where the unseen are seen, the broken find healing, where the hopeless find hope because our God is more generous and hospitable than we could ever imagine, welcoming sinners into his family at his own cost, even the cost of his only beloved son Jesus. Go, shaped by the generosity of God; supporting his kingdom’s workers.

 

 

The End of the Matter - Ecclesiastes 12:1–14

We've come to the end of Solomon's search for meaning under the sun and he's discovered that he was searching in all the wrong places; his search has led him back to his Creator, the God of heaven and earth, the one who sits over the sun. It's been a long journey for Solomon, you do have to wonder why since he was given wisdom by God, but when you keep God out of the picture, you will need to look in a lot of different places only to discover that each place you look to for meaning will all fail you. This is why I enjoyed our Profession of Faith classes, deliberately reflecting on who we are as Jesus followers in our community.

Finally, Solomon turns to God and calls to the people, "Remember your Creator." When we hear the word remember, we look back and bring memories back into our consciousness again. There's no need to do anything with the memory except appreciate the moment that it evokes. For the Jews, the word “remember” means something more, "to act decisively on behalf of someone, to commit yourself to someone." We often hear in the Scriptures about God remembering his people. It doesn't mean that God forgot his people or dug up a memory and thought, "Yah, there’s the people I chose, I should reconnect with them and see how they’re doing." When the Bible talks about God remembering his people, it’s about how God begins again to act in significant ways that Israel could recognize. These were the times when Israel was once again reminded of how committed God is to them. It doesn't mean that God wasn't acting on behalf of his people before this, but that he was acting in ways that the people didn't always recognise. It’s much the same with us; we confess that God works all things for our good, but often can't see how God’s working. This is where faith comes in. 

When Solomon calls you to "Remember your Creator," he's calling you to commit yourself to God. This is about taking God seriously, not simply playing around with faith when it suits you, waiting for when it fits better in your life, after you've experienced all the things you want to do. That's why I'm not surprised that Solomon immediately follows his call to remember the Creator with a call to follow him from the time you’re young and not wait until times get hard or you're old.

The problem is that many of us act like Augustine, "Hey, wait a minute, let's first have some fun in life, sow a few wild oats before getting so serious about God." We've believed the world that tells us that God takes away our fun and replaces it with nothing but rules to follow. We're told to focus on gaining knowledge, seeking pleasure, investing in our careers, and building wealth first, and afterwards we'll fit God into our lives. When I was a youth pastor in Allendale, a young woman asked what I thought of her desire to go into missions. I encouraged her, knowing her commitment to Jesus. Her parents were furious, saying I had no business giving their daughter career advice. They wanted her to go to university and do something useful, meaning something that makes a lot of money. They believed she could do the faith stuff for God after she graduates and gets a good job; a way so many Christians think today. Without even realizing it, they walked the same journey Solomon did, believing meaning comes from what they do, accomplish, or gather for themselves. Is this what you unconsciously believe as well? Meaninglessness.

Solomon describes getting old like skies filled with clouds and rain; our thinking getting cloudy. The loss of our physical strength as the keepers of the house, our legs, tremble and the bend in our back grows. Our grinders fall out and we’re no longer able to eat foods like steak, taking away the enjoyment of eating. Our hearing goes, we wake up early in the morning, but can’t hear the birds singing as clearly outdoors. Our heads become covered in white like the blossoms of an almond tree; then death comes. Solomon doesn't want you to take the same meaningless journey he took, he’s encouraging us to choose God in our youth and strong times.

Solomon concludes, "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." This sounds so basic, and yet this is where Solomon guides us to find meaning in life. Fear God. This is repeated often in Scripture; especially the Psalms and Proverbs, but also in the New Testament; in Matthew 10, Jesus warns us, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Later on, Paul calls us to "work toward complete holiness because we fear God." Tim Keller writes that ‘Fear’ in the Bible means to be overwhelmed, to be controlled by something. To fear the Lord is to be overwhelmed with wonder before the greatness of God and his love. It means that, because of his bright holiness and magnificent love, you find him ‘fearfully beautiful.’ That is why the more we experience God’s grace and forgiveness, the more we experience a trembling awe and wonder before the greatness of all that he is and has done for us. Fearing him means bowing before him out of amazement at his glory and beauty."

God's love and holiness is fully revealed in Jesus. Jesus leaves heaven, a place where there’s no evil, and comes to earth to live with us. It's more than a prince leaving his palace to live in the slums, because Jesus came not just to live with us, but he also came to take our punishment on himself so that we can be in the presence of God our Father. This punishment is no slap on the wrist; Jesus comes and takes all the sin of the world onto himself to the cross where he submits to death in our place. He does this for you and me because he loves us that much even though we’re not always so loveable and continually walk away from him.

We see God's love in Jesus as he relates to the people. The gospels are filled with stories of how Jesus reached out to people with grace, forgiveness, mercy, and love. These were people who had experienced little of these things from the religious leaders or from the Roman overlords, and didn't expect to experience them in their relationship with God either. While we too often take grace, forgiveness, mercy and love for granted, the people in Jesus' time had grown used to not expecting anything. They were hoping for the Messiah and freedom from the Romans, but I wonder if they hoped for much more than that. Today, where do the people at our workplaces, school, neighbourhoods and other places see real hope offered in their own lives; are they hoping to just get by, maybe having a few nice things, to be comfortable, have a few friends to share life with, and hopefully not get sick or lose what they have.

Imagine how their lives might be different if they knew God’s love for them; how they could be free from worry and fear, how important they are to God, and how God can use them to completely change another person's life by inviting them to follow and know Jesus with you. Can you imagine how free some of your friends might feel if they only knew that they can experience forgiveness and release from anger, fear, hopelessness and more because God loves them and sent Jesus to show us the way to himself. As they begin to follow Jesus with you, as they get overwhelmed with Jesus, as they give over control of their lives to Jesus, they’re 'fearing the Lord' as Solomon calls us to. Fearing God is the source of our strength to resist the attraction of sin and Satan. Paul says in Romans 3:18 that our main sin is that we "have no fear of God at all," no sense of awe and wonder at who God is and how much he loves us.

Solomon doesn't stop with fearing God; fearing God means keeping God's commandments, having a deep wonder and awe at who God is, being filled with God's love. We show our love to God by being the people God calls us to be. Jesus himself said that "if you love me, you will keep my commands." God gave us his commandments to shape us, mold us into people who reflect who he is. Because God is a God of love, Jesus summarises the commandments by calling us to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself." This means that loving God with everything you are and have, is how you’ll find meaning in your life. Yet Jesus knows we can’t keep the commandments the way we should, but that doesn’t mean we give up. Do the best you can today, and then tomorrow try to do a little better; this is the journey of sanctification. Meaning doesn't come from finding yourself or by focusing on yourself, it comes from focusing on God and others.

Jesus is our example in this. He came to call us back to God, he died for us, was raised from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of God interceding for us still. This is all rooted in his love for you. Jesus is the source for our meaning in life. Jesus says of himself, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Trust and follow Jesus, and you’ll find meaning and purpose by loving and obeying God and loving others as your life is shaped by service towards him and them. This love for others should be the driving force to inviting others to join you in your walk with God in following Jesus and working out who he’s calling you to become. Jesus' last command to go and make disciples is rooted in his love for all people and his desire that all people will come to know him and hear his invitation to follow him. Jesus is calling you to be his presence and voice. While you may search for happiness and meaning elsewhere, you’ll only find lasting happiness and meaning in Jesus.