You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2010.
A sermon on John 14 v. 5 – 14, first published in the Baptist Times on May 28th 2010
Sermon outline
When asking why Christians pray, we must dispel the myth that they are the only ones to do it. People in many religions pray, and people of no religion at all will often pray in a crisis. Even for Christians there are one or two myths we must dispel about prayer. Prayer is not incantation – where the right posture or form of words turns it into a powerful magic which guarantees a result. Prayer is not a form of verbal assault – where God is guaranteed to cave in and grant my request so long as I go on about it for long enough. Nor is prayer a form of self-delusion, where I convince myself so much that my prayer will be granted that it simply comes true as a result.
We pray, quite simply, because we can. In and through himself (v.6) Jesus has opened up a gateway to the father which will never be shut. Not to take such an offer would be folly of the worst kind. We pray, too, because it works. This is how Jesus’ outlandish promise in verse 12 is fulfilled. The only way in which we can ever be said to do greater things than Jesus – is because God grants the prayers of sinners like us to do the sort of amazing things Jesus himself did. Starting from so much further back, in our limited lives, these are indeed greater things.
Scriptural issues
- Thomas and Philip both show a limited grasp on the things Jesus has taught them, and yet Thomas is the one whom we remember. Why should this be?
- Is v.13 a blank cheque signed by God which can be exchanged for any request?
Current issues
- Surveys amongst the general public often reveal that more people claim to pray than those who believe in God. What does this imply about the way we pray for the world beyond the church?
- Emergency prayer meetings at times of national and international crisis often bring people into churches in a way that no overtly evangelistic event would ever do. Can we make more out of this, without exploiting people’s vulnerability?
‘No longer is God hidden in terror and gloom as he had been in centuries gone by. No longer is he the God of secrets kept alive by the faithful few, as he had been between the Testaments. No longer is he the God whose presence lingered in the unspeakable holy of holies. Now, says Jesus, people like us have guaranteed access to a God like him.’
A preaching dilemma
Busy writing a sermon on the second commandment about no graven images. In seeking to explain the background, and to set out the varying relationship between the monotheistic religions and the arts I am using a number of illustrations on…Powerpoint!
Am I missing something here?
… a glimpse of Pentecost
So, was that it then – dream over?
Had God in fact banished the darkness just for a moment, like a match struck briefly – then burning down to the fingers of the disciples and now dropped unceremoniously on the ground?
Was that it then – dream over?
Had God in fact just whispered for a moment with the voice of Jesus, and now the world would return to further aeons of divine silence?
Was that it then – dream over?
Had God opened the windows of heaven just for a moment, and now they must return to the stultifying stale air of museum-spirituality locked up and preserved for all time?
Maybe they had been foolish to believe all this? Maybe they had been impatient, and should have hung on for a proper messiah? Maybe they had been, after all, the fools their families and friends believed them to be?
Shut away, in an upper room – so UNlike the one they had shared with Jesus before, they watched, and prayed, and waited. Shifting, uncomfortable in one another’s enforced company, they watched, and prayed, and waited…and did what humans do. They got organised.It was a little block of normality to staunch the strangeness flowing all about them. With Judas gone Peter, – the foolishly talkative one, stood up, rallied them round, and suggested that they hold an election of sorts. Matthias – returned unopposed.Justus – lost his deposit.
They watched, and prayed, and waited.
Complete in numbers now, but incomplete in themselves – fearful, battered and anxious.
Was that it then – dream over?
When it came – it took them all by surprise. The noise of the Pentecost crowds outside had wound the knot of fear in their stomachs even tighter.And still they were watching, praying, waiting.
SUDDENLY – the stale, foetid air in their room was stirred up as if God had thrown a window open somewhere.SUDDENLY – the noise of the crowd was drowned out as the walls and lintels shook and thrummed to the buffeting of this mighty wind. SUDDENLY – the light was back, a match struck by an unseen hand and lingering over the head of each. Its light played on each face – flickering and dancing, making them look newly animated even in this gloomy place.
And then, all heaven broke loose
(Extract from a sermon preached in Teddington Baptist Church, Sunday May 23rd 2010)
A sermon on 1 Peter 3 v. 15 – 22, first published in the Baptist Times on May 20th 2010
Sermon outline
As soon as a person knows you are a baptist, it won’t be long before the ‘b’ question comes up. What exactly is baptism all about? Do you really get wet all over, and why is it necessary?
Christians get baptised because they are wholehearted about their commitment to Jesus. Peter himself, who once denied all knowledge of Jesus, here urges his readers to ‘set him apart as Lord’ in their hearts. To set him apart like this is to give him the highest place, without hesitation or dilution.
Christians get baptised, too, because they have thrown themselves headlong into an open-ended commitment to Jesus – just as Peter had done. Sometimes they reject baptism because they feel they have been too bad – and yet there are plenty of bad people who have gone before them. Other times they feel it is too soon, and that they should learn a little more of what’s more before they take the plunge – but how much more is a little more? Others feel it is too late – and that if they were going to do it they should have done it years ago. Now is always a good time for a headlong commitment to Christ, no matter what has gone before.
Christians get baptised, too, as a pledge of their future hope and reliance upon God. In doing this public thing now, they express their hope for a public resurrection and reunion with Jesus then.
Scriptural issues
- Read carelessly, v. 21 could imply that baptism itself is vital to salvation. How should we interpret it?
- Apart from the involvement of water, what does Noah’s faith (v. 20) have in common with that of a person who gets baptised today?
Current issues
- It can be well worth airing people’s fears about baptism, which might range from a fear of embarrassment that their clothes will go transparent when wet, to a very real fear of speaking out in public.
- Since many of our churches attract those from other denominational backgrounds – how do we deal with those who feel that an adult baptism dishonours the infant baptism their parents arranged for them?
‘Christians are those who have set apart Jesus as Lord, and their hearts are set on him in the same way that a compass needle is set upon North. Tip it this way or that – always the needle will swing back to its true point. God has got a hold of their hearts, and getting baptised is a way of declaring that in a public and irreversible way.’
Preacher beware!
I suppose we are all products of our culture and upbringing, and I am no exception. One of the results of this is that when I see someone raising one hand whilst I am preaching I am inclined to think they are wanting to ask a question or indicating that they wish to leave the room!
How wrong can you be? Yesterday I was preaching to a group of staff and students from over 20 different nationalities, in a chapel which was set up for worship in a cafe style with people seated round tables. Part way through the sermon somebody right in my eye line raised one hand and kept it there for several minutes. Momentarily confused about what to do, I decided to carry on regardless.
It turns out it’s just as well that I did. Later on, the owner of the hand came up to speak to me. Apparently she felt so convinced that God was at work during the preaching that this dear soul raised her hand in prayer to ask that God should pour out further anointing on the preacher. I felt humbled, honoured and mightily relieved that I hadn’t made some culturally foolish response to the raised hand.
Watch out for hand signals, preachers – and thank God for listeners who participate in the preaching just as much as the speaker.
Pentecostly preaching
I have only once in my life found myself riding across the crest of the waves behind the taut expanse of a spinnaker. Filled with every drop of wind it could capture, this jauntily coloured sail dragged the yacht recklessly and wonderfully across the water on a thrilling ride which I shall never forget. On Sundays I have frequently found myself towed along behind a windbag in the pulpit on a less than thrilling journey that I would rather forget. Sadly, said windbag has occasionally been me!
Like many other preachers I find myself today contemplating the preaching of Pentecost this coming weekend. In doing so, I would far rather be like the spinnaker - filled to bursting with God’s wind and taking the congregation along for the ride; than like the unappealing windbag filled with stale breath which blesses no-one. Maybe every preacher needs to have a Pentecost, rather than just talking about one? Maybe she or he needs to feel again the helplessness of those early disciples charged with evangelising the world and knowing they could not do it without God’s spectacular help?
Of course, there is a risk to doing the latter. At Pentecost the disciples embarked on a journey which began with the church’s birth and ended with many of their violent deaths. Maybe it is not so much Pentecostal as Pentecostly preaching we need.
Reflections from the Twitterverse
Just launched a new venture on Twitter (chatbible @ twitter) and find myself nervously checking to see who is making use of it. It feels like throwing the front room of your house open to the public and then cracking the door open every now and then to see who has taken you up on the offer. On the one hand they might be in there putting their feet on the furniture ; but on the other hand there might be nobody there at all and you feel like your house is too dull. We shall see…
I wonder how long it will be before those preachers who have virtual friends on social networks end up having virtual congregations? Will they develop a ‘fan base’ of those who only ever listen in remotely? Of course this has the great advantage of including people whom ill health or geographic separation would prevent from attending worship. However, it also encourages the kind of ‘walk-away’ mentality which the World-wide-web makes so easy. Instead of living with my brothers and sisters in Christ whilst they live out the messy consequences of the sermon they have just heard – a simple click of the index finger can send me skidding miles away across cyber space.
It strikes me that if we are to be responsible Christians in the real space which each of us occupies, we shall have to learn to do the same in the cyber spaces where we choose to make ourselves known as well. Values like integrity, loyalty, purity of thought and speech apply as much in the virtual world as they do in the real one.
So, if you’ve got your feet up on my virtual sofa please make yourself feel at home – and whilst you’re at it, why not chat to the others who are in there with you too?
…but exhausted!
Just back from the Christian resources exhibition, which had its usual bewildering array of items on offer. In my two hours at the exhibition I could have bought anything from a digital sound system to a hand embroidered surplice. The whole thing made for some quite bizarre juxtapositions, such as reformed bookstalls next to dance outfits and a bowl of sweets next to the eating disorder stand. Still, it reflects the diversity of the Christian Church, I suppose.
As a preacher I can have the most sophisticated microphone clipped to my lapel and stand at the most exquisitely carved lectern, but in the end it comes down to servant, word and spirit in a heady combination which reflects the heavens and shakes the earth. The church may have acquired more equipment in the last twenty-one centuries, but does that make it better equipped?
On Monday I look forward to joining with others on the new Chatbible adventure on Twitter. Together we shall hold a precious piece of God’s word up and see how it refracts the light. Fancy joining us? Check the details at http://bit.ly/cnZ8Dw. The puzzling and provocative Word of God is surely our most fundamental piece of equipment?
Apart from sore feet, you may wonder what else I brought back from the exhibition. Suffice it to say that I had to make room for a half life-size Mary and Joseph in the back of the car on the way home. They will soon take up residence with a plastic donkey in the organ loft awaiting their day. For now, though, they are sitting in my office with my exhibition ID badge round their necks.
I wonder what their real-life forebears would have made of all this equipment and paraphernalia?
A sermon on 1 Timothy 1 v. 12- 17, first published in the Baptist Times on May 13th 2010
For many people, Christianity is little more than a supermarket choice from the shelf of available religions. It might be as good or as bad as any other, but it just happens to be the brand they selected. If this view is to be challenged, Christians have to be clear about those things which make their faith different from other world religions. For a start there is the inexplicable generosity of God. Paul, who wrote this letter to Timothy with the blood of early Christians still on his hands, was more aware of this than most. His description of himself as the ‘worst of sinners’ (v.15) reflects the depth of emotion even years later. Then there is the intemperate grace of God too. Unlike our temperate climate, which tends to avoid any kind of extreme, and our mild temperament which neither grieves nor rails to extreme – God is different. His grace is utterly undeserved and altogether inexplicable. No wonder Paul all but bursts into song describing him as the King, ‘immortal, eternal and invisible’. (v.17)
Scriptural issues
• Paul describes himself as the ‘worst of sinners’. Is there any such thing?
• Paul feels that his conversion displays God’s patience in particular. What element of God’s character is shown in yours?
Current issues
• What aspects of our church life make what we do seem more like a religion than a faith?
• The reasons why people attend a particular church might range from the spiritual to the social. Why do people attend your church?
• For Paul his particular mission is evidence of his forgiven status. Do we treat service as a proof of our loyalty or evidence of God’s
‘It is utterly unreasonable for God to forgive a man like Paul. It is just as unreasonable as it was for the father to throw a party for his wayward prodigal son, or for Jesus to use his last few breaths asking God to forgive those who were taking his life and breath away from him. This is the unreasonable grace of God which sees the best given for the least, and by it we are saved.’
An experiment in Bible networking on Twitter
Inspired by the launch in early May 2010 of One Twitter One Book – a book discussion group with 7500 members, Chatbible is a new venture in Bible discussion
Chat?
You may feel that it should be ‘discussion’ or ‘weighty theological analysis’. However, the title ‘chat’ has been chosen deliberately. Chatbible is intended as an informal discussion forum where no question is too simple and no comment too brief to be valued. With its facility for comment by phone or laptop on the move, it allows the conversation to stretch across borders and to take place at any time of the day or night.
140 characters on the greatest book ever written?
The fact is that for many this would be 140 characters more than many are contributing to any Bible discussion right now. Some Bible chat is better than none, surely? Not only that, but you can tweet as many comments as you like!
How will it work?
Sign up to follow Twitter@chatbible. Initially this experiment will be tried over a period of six weeks, with a different Bible passage to discuss every week, as detailed below. Participants are invited to comment, question, and respond to each other’s comments and questions.
Week 1: May 17 – 23 The Beatitudes – what are they all about? – Matthew 5 v. 1 – 11
Week 2: May 24 – 30 John’s overture to Jesus – John 1 v. 1 – 14
Week 3: May 31st – June 6th Tales of lost & found – Luke 15 v.1 – 31
Week 4: June 7th- 13th A desperate Psalm – Jonah 2
Week 5: June 14th – 20th God’s servant – Isaiah 42 v. 1 – 9
Week 6: June 21st – 27th Gideon – hero or wimp? – Judges 6
preachersa2z
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