Sermon: Isaiah 9: 1-7 What child is this?

Whenever a baby is born, there are a few questions that are always asked. When was the baby born? How heavy was the baby? And, what are they calling it? And so I’ve learned to listen carefully, to try to remember the answers, because the questions are bound to be asked again!

In our reading tonight from Isaiah, we hear of a birth announcement. Now, normally, birth announcements are made after the birth has happened. So, maybe in the Irish Times, so-and-so and so-and-so announce the birth of their baby so-and-so. Or maybe something will be posted on Facebook. But this birth announcement in Isaiah 9 was made seven hundred years before the baby was born.

But forget about what weight the baby was. It’s not mentioned, and probably doesn’t matter. What does matter is found in verse 6 - that the baby has been born, and what the baby will be called.

‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’

The important facts are recorded there in verse 6. That the baby has been born, and what the baby has been called. But to see why that matters, we need to see verse 6 in the wider context of the chapter and section of Isaiah’s prophecy.

The section begins back in chapter 7, in dangerous days in Jerusalem. King Ahaz, is on the throne in Jerusalem, the son of David ruling in David’s city. But by this time, the kingdom he’s ruling over is only a fragment of King David’s kingdom. The majority of tribes turned away from the kingdom to form the kingdom of Israel (slightly confusing!). And the sons of David rule over the bit called Judah.

And there’s a threat against Jerusalem from the nations of Aram and Israel. Everyone is fearful. But God promises that the nations won’t conquer Jerusalem. And in chapter 7 we find the sign of Immanuel (which we looked at this morning - the virgin giving birth to a son, called Immanuel, which means God with us.).

But even though the threat of Aram and Israel has gone, the people of Judah are going down a deadly path. They’re turning from God, turning instead to consult mediums and spiritists, turning from light to darkness. And that’s what we see by the end of chapter 8. ‘Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.’ (8:22)

Yet, as chapter 9 starts, God promises that even the dark places, will see light. The places that have suffered from enemy devastation will instead see honour and life. There’s the promise of light:

‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’ (2)

We’re not used to pitch blackness these days with streetlights and electric lamps and car headlights. But without all those, when it was dark, it really was dark. And the darkness is a picture of our spiritual condition without God. Unable to see. Unseen. Without God’s light. But here God promises not just a tiny light, but a great light. A light dawning - the sun rise.
And because of that light, there will be joy. ‘You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.’

There’s an increase in joy that comes through the light. And it’s compared to two other circumstances of joy. Imagine the joy of people rejoicing at harvest. The earth has yielded its increase, they’ll have food to eat, and so they rejoice, And that rejoicing is a picture of this rejoicing.

Or, imagine the joy when men are dividing the plunder. They’ve fought a battle, they’ve won a war, and now anything belonging to the enemy is theirs. They’re rejoicing because they’ve won, and because they’ve profited. This rejoicing is like that rejoicing.

The military picture continues, as the light and joy is compared to a previous victory. ‘For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.’ (4-5).

Isaiah looks back to the defeat of Midian, when an enemy was destroyed. Except this is an even bigger day that’s coming. It will mean that the yoke that burdens God’s people will be shattered. God’s people are pictured as the oxen, under a yoke, slaves, burdened. A bar across their shoulders. Being oppressed by a rod wielded by the enemy. The yoke, the bar, the rod, all shattered. Gone for good. There’s freedom and liberation. And more than that, there is peace.

There’ll be no more need of warriors’ boots. No more need of army camouflage outfits. They’ll all be used in the fire. All burned up.

So how is this possible? How can we have this light, this joy, this peace? It all comes through verse 6. As John Lennon sang: Merry Christmas (war is over). But it’s not just because of the Christmas pop tunes that peace comes. It’s because of the Christ of Christmas, the baby announced in verse 6.

This child is born, this son is given, ‘and the government will be on his shoulders.’ They say that a week is a long time in politics. I’m sure for Teresa May, this past year has seemed like an eternity, as the government seems to be at war amongst itself, and as Teresa faced that confidence vote.

But here, this promised baby will shoulder the burden of government himself. And he is the one for the job, as we see because of what he is called. When you look at verse 6, these aren’t the kinds of names that you’ll hear in a playground or a school roll call. These are names that are only fit for one person in the whole of history - the baby born in Bethlehem:

First up, he is the Wonderful Counsellor. Now that’s not a lovely member of the local district council. This isn’t someone serving on Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon Council! This counsellor provides wonderful counsel, advice, encouragement. He’s the one who draws alongside, stands with you, who provides wisdom, giving help in time of need.

Remember when some of the crowds will leave when Jesus says some hard things in John 6? Jesus says to the twelve, will you also leave? Peter answers, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ If you’re wondering about the future; if you’re unsure where to turn; if you need some wisdom - come to the Wonderful Counsellor, the fount of wisdom.

This baby is also the Mighty God. This is no ordinary baby - this is God himself, stepping down to be born as a baby, still powerful and mighty. It doesn’t take long to think of the ways in which this baby will show his power - as he walks on water; as he calms the storm; as he drives out diseases, and makes the lame leap for joy. God has come near, and is lying in the manger. He is almighty, all-powerful, and can do all things. What is it you need him to do? Come to the Mighty God, the source of power.

Thirdly, we see that this baby is the Everlasting Father, or as some would suggest, ‘Father of eternity’. He is in the position of authority for all eternity. Indeed, as Isaiah goes on to say, ‘of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.’ We’re so used to things having expiry dates - the first mince pies that Tesco had on their shelves back in September would be out of date by now! We update our cars and clothes. But the kingdom of Jesus goes on for eternity, and we’re invited to be with him. Come to the Everlasting Father, and worship him now and forevermore.

The final name for the baby is Prince of Peace. The baby lying in the manger is the one who brings peace. That’s what the host of angels confirmed, as they sang ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’ In a world of war, we long for the peace that he brings. Even in recent days, when we hear of ; as well as the places that don’t make it into the news, or which we’ve simply forgotten about; we long for peace.

The promised Son is the one who brings peace, because he gave himself for us rebels, to bring us back to God and bring an end to our conflict. Peace comes through the death of the Prince of Peace.

As you come close to Christmas, as you gaze into the manger, don’t just see a tiny baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Ask yourself - what child is this? He is the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the source of our light, our joy, and our peace. And he was born to us, and was given to us. Will you receive him, this Christmas?

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 16th December 2018.

Family Carol Service Talk: Matthew 1: 18-25 The Christmas Cracker

This morning I’ve brought along something to do with Christmas. It’s going to help us understand what Christmas is all about. But I wonder if you can guess what it might be. It’s something that is normally found on the table at Christmas dinner, but you can’t eat it. Anyone know? It’s a Christmas cracker.

Here’s a question for you: what do you normally find in a Christmas cracker? You normally get a joke, a hat, and a toy. This is a special Christmas cracker, all about the first Christmas.

So let’s see what’s inside it. What do we need to do to find what’s inside? We need to pull it. So can I have two helpers to pull the cracker?

Now, normally you get a joke inside a Christmas cracker. There are no jokes inside this one, but don’t worry - by now you might know that I like a good Christmas cracker joke. So here are a few for you!

How does good king Wenceslas like his pizza? Deep pan, crisp and even.

What did one snowman say to the other snowman? ‘Can you smell carrots?’

What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsellitis.

What did Adam say the day before Christmas? It’s Christmas, Eve.

Which side of a turkey has the most feathers? The outside.

What kind of motorbike does Santa ride? A holly Davidson.

Why was Cinderella no good at football? Her coach was a pumpkin and she kept running away from the ball.

--

So, there’s no joke in this special Christmas cracker, but there is a bit of paper. And it gives us our Bible reading for this morning - Matthew 1: 18-25.

In that Bible reading, there are three names for the Christmas baby. And in our cracker, there are three special items to help us see what those names mean.

The first one is a crown. We normally find a crown in a cracker, and people think that it’s because of the three kings who came to see Jesus. but this crown in this cracker is telling us that Jesus is the King.

In verse 18 it says: ‘This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.’ That word Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew word Messiah. Both mean the anointed one - the one who has been set apart as God’s king.

Christ isn’t Jesus’ surname, in the way that mine is McMurray, and you have your surname. No, this is a title, a job description. He is Jesus the Christ, the King.

And last week we saw how Jesus is the son of David, who was a great king in Israel. God had promised that one of David’s sons would reign as king forever. And that’s exactly what Jesus does. So the crown tells us that Jesus is the King.

Next up, we have a cross. Now, why would we find a cross in this special Christmas cracker? Have I got a bit mixed up in my seasons and special services? Surely the cross is for Good Friday and Easter. What is it doing in this Christmas cracker?

It’s because right from the very beginning, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was already on his way to die on the cross. It’s the reason that Jesus came into the world. The wooden manger leads to the wooden cross.

And we know this because of what the angel says in verse 21. ‘She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’

I wonder do you know what your name means? My name means ‘strength’ or ‘battle spear.’ But Jesus is given the name Jesus ‘because he will save his people from their sins.’ Jesus is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua, and it simply means ‘God saves.’

So Jesus is called Jesus because he is our Saviour - the one who saves his people from their sins. And he does that by going to the cross, and dying to take away our sins. So Christmas leads to Good Friday and Easter. It’s why Jesus is called Jesus, and why Jesus came. The cross tells us that Jesus is the Saviour.

Now we’ve got one more item left in the cracker, and one more name to consider. And the item is... some sticky tape! This is a Christmas essential, when you’re wrapping up presents, to be able to stick the wrapping paper, and keep things together.

And we have sticky tape because the third and final name we have in the reading is in verse 22=23. ‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel - which means God with us.’

Another name for the baby Jesus is Immanuel. And Immanuel means God with us. Whenever we look into the manger in Bethlehem, we see the face of God. God the Son, has become one of us, and God is with us. In Jesus, God is always with us - experiencing what it is to be human; sharing our joys and sorrows; and forever he shares our humanity.

The sticky tape holds things together - and in Colossians 1 we read that in Jesus, all things hold together. He is the sticky tape at the centre of the universe. And he has stuck himself to us, to be with us, forever. Jesus our Immanuel.

Our Christmas cracker shows us why we can have a cracking Christmas - because it shows us who the baby in the manger is:

The crown tells us that Jesus is the King, the Christ.

The cross tells us that Jesus is the Saviour, who came to save us from our sins.

The sticky tape tells us that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.

Normally you only get jokes and novelty items in a cracker - but our cracker this morning tells us the good news of Christmas, the good news of Jesus Christ, our Immanuel. Let’s pray.

This sermon was preached at the Family Carol Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 16th December 2018.

Cafe Church Talk: How can I believe the Christmas story?

We’re well into the season of Nativity plays, as a cast of shepherds, angels, wisemen, donkeys, sheep, and Mary and Joseph are assembled. And, as teachers and Sunday School leaders try to include everyone in some way, they even find additional roles in the Nativity play. So one year, in my last church, I had the special honour of being a donkey, dressed in an Ey-ore onesie. (Sadly I wasn’t able to find any photos of that...). And, in the movie Love, Actually, you get this scene. [Lobster clip].

Shepherds and angels, wisemen and even lobsters, is the nativity story all just made up? Is is something nice for the kids to do, but doesn’t really bear any relation to reality? With all the cookery programmes on TV this time of year, is the recipe for Christmas something like this: take one ordinary baby, add in all sorts of legends and myths, and voila, there you have Christmas?

As seems to be happening in some places, do we need to forget about Christmas, and instead celebrate some sort of winterval? Should we just go along with saying happy holidays or seasons greetings, and forget about merry Christmas? I don’t think so, because Christmas starts with Christ. But how do you answer those who do think that we should leave the Christ of Christmas behind? How can we believe the Christmas story?

Christmas starts with Christ, and it’s with him that we need to start. It’s clear that, whatever you may think of him, Jesus existed. Scholars of all religious beliefs and none accept that there is more than enough historical evidence to show that Jesus lived, and was highly influential.

Besides the evidence of the New Testament, they can also point to non-Christian sources - Josephus the Jewish historian mentions ‘Jesus, who was called Christ’ and the Roman historian Tacitus, writing about the Christians blamed by Nero for the Fire in Rome says that the founder of their sect was Christus, he was executed under Pontius Pilate, and it had spread through Judea and even to Rome.

So there’s no doubt that Jesus the Christ existed. He was indeed born. But could it be that all these other stories have been added on at a later date? So, if you have someone who is important, or a great hero, then you get more and more legends and stories told about him. Is that what’s going on with Jesus?

That brings us to the way that Luke writes his gospel. Luke, the gospel writer, was a doctor, an educated man. And in the opening verses of his gospel, he tells us how he approached his task.

‘Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.’ (Luke 1: 1-4).

Dr Luke has spoken to the eyewitnesses. He has carefully investigated everything. And he writes an orderly account. So through the passage we’re focusing on, there are historical details - people like Caesar Augustus and Quirinius, Joseph and Mary; there are places like Nazareth and Bethlehem; there are time references - the census, the one that happened when Quirinius was governor of Syria. This isn’t ‘once upon a time...’ fairytale stuff. This is history. Garnered from his eyewitness - Mary the mother of Jesus.

And within the story, there are details that might seem far-fetched or pure legend to the sceptic. Angels appearing to shepherds to tell them about a baby. Wise men being guided by a star. But perhaps the biggest stumbling block is the baby himself.

At the very least, there was more than an element of scandal in the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. His mother Mary is probably a teenager, about 15. She is engaged to Joseph. And then, suddenly, she is pregnant. With the Son of God growing inside her womb. And some people today say, yeah right.

But you can’t read the early chapters of Matthew and Luke without realising just how difficult this circumstance must have been. They weren’t in the dark as to where babies came from. They knew it as well as we do. That’s why Mary asks the question of the angel Gabriel: ‘How will this be?’ It’s why Joseph resolves to divorce Mary quietly, because she must have been unfaithful. But both Mary and Joseph are told about this special baby.

So, Mary is told: ‘You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’ (Luke 1: 30-33)

Joseph is told: ‘Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matt 1:20-21).

The baby is the Son of the Most High, conceived from the Holy Spirit. Both Mary and Joseph are told that Jesus is the Son of God. That the second person of the Trinity is living inside her womb, waiting to be born - fully God and fully man.

This is why Jesus Christ is so special; why Christmas is so important. What we see in Bethlehem is God becoming man, taking on our flesh, becoming one of us, the word becoming flesh. The big word that theologians use is the ‘incarnation.’ - when God takes on our flesh, he is in carne - just as chilli con carne is chilli with meat (flesh). The incarnation means that to gaze into the manger is to see the face of God. God with skin on.

For CS Lewis, the incarnation is the Grand Miracle. We think of all the miracles of Jesus. But the greatest miracle is the incarnation. He writes: ‘What had happened on Earth, when [God] was born a man at Bethlehem, had altered the universe for ever.’ Again: ‘The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this.’

But there’s a line in the Chronicles of Narnia that CS Lewis best pictures the miracle of Christmas. In The Last Battle, King Tirian goes into a stable, and discovers a whole new world inside.

‘“It seems, then,” said Tirian, smiling himself, “that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places.”
“Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside.”
“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”

In the manger, we discover one inside it, who is bigger than our whole world. The eternal Son, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, lying in a manger. Why did he do it? What’s the Christmas story all about?

It’s about invasion, and rescue. To quote Lewis again,“Enemy-occupied territory---that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

Love invades our world, wrapped up in strips of cloth, laid in a manger. It’s the message of the angels to the shepherds: ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’

How can we believe the Christmas story? We can believe, because it is the true story of God becoming one of us, to be our Saviour. The Grand Miracle has taken place. The saviour is here. And it’s good news for everybody.

I wonder if you’ve heard of Andy Park. Here he is. He has celebrated Christmas every day since 1993 (except for a fortnight after Christmas 2015). He has turkey every day. He watches the Queen’s Speech every day. Wizzard may have sung ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’ but Andy Park does it.

You know the way you hear the advertising slogan around this time - A dog is for life, not just for Christmas? The good news of Christmas means that Christmas is for life, not just for Christmas! You don’t need to have a turkey dinner every day. But every day can be Christmas, when Jesus is your Saviour. He loves you, he came to save you. You just have to receive him, and believe him.

This sermon was preached at the Cafe Church in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 9th December 2018.

Sermon: Matthew 1: 1-17 The Christmas (Family) Tree

Every year, as the dark nights are drawing in, and we’re driving anywhere at night, the lookout begins. On every drive we’re watching out to see when we’ll see our first Christmas tree. It seems that they go up earlier and earlier each year. Which leads me to ask the question. Have you got your Christmas tree up yet?

Even though the Christmas tree only really came into popularity in Britain through the influence of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, these days, nearly everyone has a Christmas tree. They come in all sizes and shapes, and can be decorated in all sorts of ways.

Our Bible reading from Matthew’s gospel is a bit like a Christmas tree, standing tall, drawing the eye. And this might be the only tree you need this Christmas, so even if you don’t have a Christmas tree in your house, you can have this one. It’s the best Christmas tree of all.

And yet, on first glance, you might be put off. And even more so, if it’s the first page of Matthew’s gospel, the first page of the whole New Testament. Perhaps, as the new year comes, you’ll decide that you want to start reading the Bible every day. But rather than starting into the Old Testament and working through it, you think it might be better to start in the New Testament. So you open up your Bible to Matthew 1:1, and your heart sinks.

You want to get to reading about Jesus, but this is more like reading a page from the Jerusalem phone book. All those hard to pronounce names, many of them you’ve never heard of before, and you wonder, what on earth is Matthew playing at? Why does he start his gospel in this way?

You might be tempted to do what some kids do when they’re counting. We used to play hide and seek in a neighbour’s garden. Someone would count and the rest of us would scarper to climb up into the trees or hide behind a fence. But every so often, someone would cheat. They would count like this: 1, 2, skip a few, 99, 100, coming, ready or not!’ It might be tempting to skip these verses, but Matthew has deliberately included these verses here, right at the start. So what’s his purpose? Why does he write it this way?

Well, look at verse 1: ‘A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.’ Matthew is recording the genealogy, the family line of Jesus Christ. He’s showing us who Jesus the Christ is. And even in verse 1, he wants us to know for sure that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham.

David was the great king of Israel, the shepherd boy king, whom God set over his people. And God had made a promise to David, that one of his sons would reign forever. Matthew is going to show, through his gospel, that Jesus is this promised king - the Christ.

But Jesus is also the son of Abraham - the one whom God called, with the promise of children, land, and blessing. And Matthew will show how Jesus is the promised Christ, ministering to the house of Israel, through whom blessings will come to all the nations.

So in these opening verses, Matthew is giving us a family tree - the father of so and so, who was the father of so and so, and so on. So let’s climb into this tree to see what we find. It’s a family tree, but it’s also the Christmas family tree - we wouldn’t have a Christmas Day without this unlikely family tree. So let’s explore it, using a Christmas tree as our guide.

The first thing you have to decide when you’re getting a Christmas tree is this - real or artificial? Artificial trees might last you years, and can look very realistic, but some prefer the smell and feel and look of a real Christmas tree. And that’s the first thing to notice about this Christmas family tree. It’s a real one. It’s 100% genuine.

These days, when it comes to family history, some people are really into it, while others don’t really know much about their ancestors. In my family, we can only go back about five generations. But for the Jews, they knew their family history. Their ancestry was important to them, so they knew who they were and where they came from.

So the names that we find here are all real people, tracing their family line from Abraham. This isn’t like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter - lots of names and stories, but all made up. And so, every name from Abraham in verse 2 through to Zerubbabel in verse 13 is mentioned at least once in the Old Testament. This is the real life fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham. It’s a real Christmas family tree.

So, you’ve decided you want to get a real Christmas tree. You might go along to a Christmas tree farm where you pick your tree and they cut it down, or you go along to a shop, where they are sitting netted up and ready to go. I overheard someone the other day looking at netted Christmas trees saying that you never really know what it’s going to be like, if it’s a good one, until you get it home. Because you want a good one, a healthy looking one, one that will look good.

They say that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. But God picked out this family for his Son to be born into. Jesus picked this family as his own. But if you were looking for a family tree, this might be one to avoid.

There are more than a few bad apples growing on this tree. Forget about the names that you don’t know, and focus for a moment on the names that you do. Abraham himself, the father of faith, and yet he passed off his wife Sarah as his sister to save his own skin, not once but twice! Abraham also took matters into his own hands when it seemed that God was too slow in fulfilling his promise of giving him a son. Instead, Abraham took Hagar, his wife’s slave girl and got her pregnant.

Isaac, the son of the promise, when he grew up, pulled the same trick of passing off his wife Rebekah as his sister to save his own skin. He also played the favouritism game, favouring one son, Esau over the other son, Jacob. Jacob, whose name means ‘he deceives’ was a slimy trickster, always out to take advantage of you. David was king, yes, but was also an adulterer and a murderer (attempting to cover up his adultery).

That’s the first fourteen generations, Abraham to David. The next fourteen generations, David to Jeconiah, that covers the period of the kings. Solomon who had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And the rest of the kings follow the pattern of good king, bad king, good king, bad king, but even the good kings aren’t that good. Then the kings are finished. The nation goes into exile to Babylon, and eventually returns, but with no more kings, suffering under foreign rule.

If you were to choose a family tree to work with, to bring the Christ from, it probably wouldn’t be this one. You’d write it off - too many problems, too many scandals, we’ll politely avoid them. Yet this is the tree that God chooses to work with. This is the family line that God has chosen for his Son to be born into.

So, when you’re getting your Christmas tree, you’ve decided you want a real tree; you’ve picked one, and when you bring it home, then you have to decorate it. In this family tree, we’ve seen that it’s real, that it’s maybe not the best, but that its decoration sets it apart. You see, this rotten family tree is lit up by God’s grace.

Yes, Abraham didn’t always get it right, and David was a murderer, but God shows his grace in using them for his glory, to advance his rescue plan. God’s grace is powerful enough to turn around the worst of sinners, to draw them to himself, and to use them in his plans.

But God’s grace is seen especially in this Christmas family tree, because of who Matthew includes in it. Sorry ladies, but normally, family trees and genealogies only ever focused on the men. It was who your father was that counted, not who your mum was. The family tree traced the fathers and sons. But Matthew includes the names of five women in this family tree, to highlight and focus on God’s grace in a most remarkable way.

Tamar (3) had been wronged by her father-in-law Judah, so tricked him by acting like a prostitute. Yet God used that incident to advance the line of promise. Rahab (5) was a pagan foreigner prostitute who lived in the city of Jericho up until the moment that Joshua marched the people of Israel around the walls and they collapsed. Rahab had hid the spies, and converted to trust in Israel’s God because she knew that he was the only true God. The rest of the city died, but she and her family lived, becoming part of this family tree.

Ruth was a Moabite, another foreigner who was brought into the people of Israel - married to Naomi’s son who died, then pledged her allegiance to Naomi to return to Bethlehem, being redeemed by Boaz, finding refuge under the wing of the God of Israel.

The wife of Uriah in verse 6, not named, is Bathsheba. David had seen her bathing on her roof, had sent for her and committed adultery with her. She became pregnant, so David sent for her husband, back from the war that David should have been fighting, but Uriah was more honourable, and wouldn’t go in to his wife when his fellow soldiers were still encamped on the battlefield. So David had him murdered.

And then, finally, in verse 16, there’s Mary. A teenage pregnancy, while engaged, the talk of the town. Just another scandal to add to the rest of the family’s history. Yet this is the family that God has chosen, protected and guided. In the weakness and failure, God’s grace shines ever clearer. This was the family Jesus had chosen to join, to be identified with, to fulfil the promise of becoming the son of Abraham (the chosen offspring in whom the nations of the earth would be blessed), the son of David (the royal king who would reign forever), the Christ (the anointed one).

When you look at your Christmas tree, even if it’s a bit wonky, or it doesn’t sit as you’d like, remember this Christmas family tree. God is at work to connect the Old Testament to the New Testament, to bring all his promises to be yes in Christ Jesus. This is who Jesus is. And God’s grace continues to shine as he bring us into this family, not because of our goodness, but because of his grace.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 9th December 2018.

Sermon: Nehemiah 6: 1-19 Carrying on a great work

As some of you may know, last week we were in Bulgaria for a few days. Normally, people from here go to Bulgaria for the skiing, but we didn’t do any skiing. Instead, we visited with missionaries and a pastor. It was a humbling experience, to sit and talk with a man whose church building had been confiscated by the Communists; and who then began to lead an underground church, meeting secretly. With new legislation being debated in Bulgaria, religious freedoms are under threat, and the pastor reckoned things would be worse than under the Communists.

The question that arises is this - why are people who are seeking to be faithful to God, and proclaiming the name of Jesus, facing such pressure and threat and opposition? We don’t think it should be this way. And yet these saints are facing danger and threat in the very near future (all over again).

The thing is, though, that no matter where you might be reading in the Bible, God’s people always seem to be under some sort of threat, facing some sort of opposition. So it’s not as strange as we might think it to be. It seems to be the usual pattern for God’s people - opposition of one sort or another. And why does it happen? Well, to put it simply, we have an enemy, who doesn’t want us to prosper, who seeks to make things difficult for us as we seek to follow Jesus.

So as we turn to Nehemiah 6, we discover that he is facing all sorts of opposition. Again. You see, back in chapters 2 and 4, there was some initial opposition to Nehemiah’s building project from Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. And, as chapter 6 opens, those same three names come up again.

So, what’s Nehemiah doing, and why is he being opposed as he tries to do it? The big picture is that Nehemiah, born in exile, far away, has heard of the state of the city of Jerusalem. Its walls were broken down and burned. Its people weren’t much better off. And so Nehemiah, by God’s providence, cupbearer to the king, comes with the king’s blessing to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem.

And there’s opposition to the building work. A few years ago, Channel 5 had a tv programme ‘Neighbours from Hell’ about neighbours who caused hassle. Nehemiah was living with neighbours, if not from hell themselves, then inspired by hell. You see, Nehemiah is building up the city of Jerusalem - the city of the people of God, the people of God’s promise, that the Messiah, God’s king would come from. Without the people of God, there can be no Messiah from God. Without Nehemiah’s work, Jesus could not have come to be our Saviour.

And so the devil, through these neighbours from hell, is trying to prevent God fulfilling his promises, and stopping Jesus from coming into the world. Do you see how important Nehemiah’s work is? And why the opposition is increasing in pressure - all to prevent God’s purposes from being fulfilled.

In verse 1 we see the context of this renewed opposition. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem (and all the rest of the enemies) hear that Nehemiah has rebuilt the wall with no gaps (although the doors aren’t in place yet). The project they had mocked is coming to an end, the walls of safety and security are being finished, and so they need to do something to try to stop the work at the eleventh hour.

The first plan of attack comes in verse 2. The message from Sanballat and Geshem: ‘Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono’ But Nehemiah sees through their scheme, they were scheming to harm him, so he’s invited to the plain of Ono, and he says Oh no! I won’t go! Well, that’s the paraphrase. He actually says: ‘I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?’

At the basic level, it’s an attempt to distract him from carrying on a great work. Especially given they try the same message four time! But the deeper threat is them scheming to harm him. The devil is trying to take Nehemiah out of the game, to prevent the work from happening.

And we can see in the life of Jesus the same attack being tried time and again. When Herod gave the order for all the baby boys of Bethlehem to be slaughtered. When the crowd in Nazareth try to push Jesus over the edge of the cliff. The storm that arises when Jesus is in the boat. Even the crucifixion itself! But none of those attempts on Jesus’ life were successful until the moment God had planned - when Jesus’ death would fulfil his purpose.

After four failed attempts, the enemies decide eventually(!) to try something else. This time, verse 5, they send the same message, but also with an unsealed letter, for anyone to read. And the message tells how a report is going around (and Geshem says it’s true, so it must be true...) about how the Jews are going to revolt, and how Nehemiah is going to proclaim himself king. It’s a bit of bribery or blackmail - when they say, now you wouldn’t want the king to hear about this, would you? You’d better come here to us and we’ll sort it all out.

Nehemiah’s reply is straightforward and fairly blunt: ‘Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.’ It’s all lies and nonsense. Pure fantasy. But do you see their motive this time? Not so much to harm Nehemiah physically, but to harm him mentally. ‘They were all trying to frighten us, thinking. “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”’ (9)

They’re trying to weaken Nehemiah and the workers through fear. You’ve heard that expression ‘paralysed by fear’ - that was their aim. They were trying to stop the work from being completed. But remember, no building work, no Jewish nation, no Jesus.

And we hear the same devilish accent in the words of the Pharisees in Luke 13:31, when they say that Herod (another Herod from when Jesus was a baby) wants to kill him, so he should go somewhere else. They were trying to use fear, trying to stop Jesus from completing his life’s work. But Jesus responds that he will stay on course and complete his work, and reach his goal.

So the threat of harm hasn’t worked. Neither has the threat of fear. And we see that in Nehemiah’s prayer: ‘Now strengthen my hands.’ (9). Give me strength to keep going, even when there are fearful threats.

But that doesn’t stop the neighbours from hell. Now, they try a different approach. One that, at first glance, might sound reasonable. Nehemiah is visiting Shemaiah, who appears to be a prophet in the city. He advises that Nehemiah should meet him in the temple, the house of God, behind closed doors, taking refuge there, because men are coming to kill Nehemiah.

Doesn’t that sound reasonable, maybe even sensible? And we’ve heard of the idea of taking sanctuary, taking refuge in religious buildings. But we see Nehemiah’s answer in verse 11: ‘Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!’ So Nehemiah isn’t going to run away, or hide away.

But there’s more going on below the surface. You see, the prophet wasn’t saying these things because God had sent him. He was saying these things because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He who pays the piper calls the tune - and they wanted to intimidate Nehemiah.

And the aim was to make Nehemiah ‘commit a sin by doing this and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.’ (13). How would this be a sin? By going into the temple, the holy place, Nehemiah would be sinning, disobeying God’s command. He would be trespassing the boundaries God had set in place. If he had done that, then his name would be mud, he’d have a bad name, he’d be discredited.

It was a temptation to sin by seeking self-preservation. And while Nehemiah didn’t sin in this regard, he had sinned in lots of other ways (we see his confession in chapter 1). Jesus was tempted in the same way, over and over. Tempted to make stones into bread to satisfy his hunger after forty days of fasting. Tempted to throw himself down from the top of the temple to test God’s protection. Tempted to bypass the pain of the cross and receive the kingdoms of the world by worshipping Satan. Tempted (by Peter) to not go the way of the cross. But in all these temptations, and in every temptation, Jesus committed no sin! That’s why he is our perfect Saviour, the one who covers our sins through his perfect life, and his perfect death on the cross for us.

The Satan who tried to prevent Jesus from fulfilling his mission (and was unsuccessful in that endeavour!) also tried to prevent Jesus from coming into the world through his opposition to Nehemiah. But as Nehemiah joyfully records, this opposition was also unsuccessful.

The wall was completed in fifty-two days. That’s some going, with all that had been going on in the background. And when the enemies hear the news, they ‘were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realised that this work had been done with the help of our God.’

Project fear hadn’t worked, and now the enemies are themselves afraid. They begin to realise that there is a God, and he has been helping his people to bring about his purposes. Nehemiah shows us how God’s enemies (and the enemy) seek to prevent God from fulfilling his promises. The enemy’s plans never change - he was at it in Nehemiah’s day, he was at the same tricks in Jesus’ day, and he is at the same tricks here in Richhill, and in Bulgaria, and all around the world in our day. But we have God’s help as we carry on a great project, the building up of God’s people, as we call people to turn from their opposition and turn to the living and true God, as we wait for his Son from heaven.

[How ironic, then, that when Nehemiah’s enemies realised that God was at work to help his people, some of God’s people were at work to help his enemies! The nobles of Judah were bound in closely with Tobiah - through oaths, and relationships, and letter-writing, and advocacy for him. They talked about his good deeds, and how wonderful he was! All while the letters come seeking to intimidate Nehemiah and prevent God’s work from going forward.

So where do we find ourselves in this story? Where do we fit in? Are we among the godly but confused, advocating for the enemy, blindsided by his charm? Are we on the enemy’s side? In both cases, we need to turn back to God, surrender to him.

But if we’re facing opposition of one sort or another; if we’re seeing the enemy’s tactics deployed against us - threat of harm, project fear, temptations to sin - then take heart! You are on God’s team, the winning team, and God will help, and God will bring about his plans and purposes. Pray for his strength, and stick at it.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 2nd December 2018.

Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 5: 12-28 A string of pearls

I wonder if you’ve ever seen a wee girl being given a necklace making kit? In the kit, there’s some string, and then a big box of different sizes and shapes and colours and types of beads. Red ones, pink ones, blue ones, green ones, and all sorts of colours and shades. And then the wee girl sits down and picks one of those, and one of those, and one of those, and threads them all onto the string. There’s no pattern, rhyme or reason. They don’t all ‘go’ together; they’ve just been chosen at random. But she loves it, thinks it’s very stylish, and insists on wearing it. Or makes you wear it!

When I sat down to consider this final section of 1 Thessalonians, that was my initial thought. Is this all just random? Does it all fit together? It seems to be all over the place. Lots of random ideas jotted down in quick succession. It’s a bit like the student sitting an exam, running out of time, so rather than writing structured, well-argued paragraphs, they just jot down some bullet points, some notes to try to show their learning for a few extra marks.

It’s like when I used to write to penpals all over Europe. The special airmail paper was precious, and seemed expensive, so if you were coming near the end of a page you thought - will I cram everything in here and finish up? Is this what Paul was doing here? He’s coming to the end of the scroll and wanted to get in all his ideas? Is this a string of random beads, each interesting, but not really connected?

If you have a look in the pew Bible (p. 1188), you’ll see what the Bible publisher makes of this section. You see, often, Bible publishers add in headings in italics. They’re not part of the original text, they’re just there to hopefully help the reader understand what’s going on. Well here, the heading before verse 12 isn’t terribly helpful - final instructions. Or even worse, another version I looked at said ‘various exhortations.’

So what do we do with these verses? What is it all about? How do we make sense of them? There’s so much here that we could approach them in a couple of ways.

First of all, there’s the approach that says: ‘Wow!’ Look at this verse, and this verse, and this verse, and we could go for a really long and indepth sermon, bringing out the meaning and application of each individual verse. Now, even five minutes on each verse would take just 85 minutes, so I hope you’re sitting comfortably... No, don’t worry, we’ll not go down that way today.

Another possible approach is for us to look along the string of beads, and just pick one that we like, or that stands out for us, and forget about all the rest. And sometimes, that approach can be really helpful - and God is speaking to us about something in particular. I don’t expect you to remember everything I ever say in every sermon - so if there’s one nugget that speaks to you, hold on to it and focus on that!

But the more I thought about the passage, the more I realised that it’s not entirely random. God’s word is given to us for a purpose, and God worked through Paul to write down what God intended us to hear. This isn’t like twitter or a facebook feed, with lots of random ideas coming from lots of different places. This is a letter, written for a specific purpose. And these verses fit into the bigger picture.

You may remember that, ever since 3:13, Paul has been showing the Thessalonian Christians what it looks like to be sanctified, to be set apart, to become holy. He went indepth on sexual purity (saying no to lust and yes to love); he fixed our minds on the hope we have in Jesus to transform our grief and help us wait for the day of the Lord. And this last section shows us how we live out our becoming more holy in everyday life. Each of these verses is driving towards the destination of the prayer and promise of verses 23&24.

Here’s the prayer: ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

As Paul directs our thoughts towards the coming of Jesus (as he’s done at the end of every chapter in the letter); that coming of Jesus that we especially look forward to in this season of Advent; we might think that it’ll be impossible for us to stand before him... how? Blameless. Maybe your heart accuses you. The devil accuses you. Is it really possible that we will be able to be blameless, whenever we still seem to prefer sin to righteousness, as this battle continues to war within us?

But we also have the promise. ‘The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’ We have our part to play in choosing to obey God, but look who will bring it about. The one who called you will do it, because he is faithful.

God gives us the means to become holy in our everyday life - and God will do it. That’s what verses 12-22 are all about. They’re not random beads thrown together, rather it’s a string of pearls, describing the ways God has provided for our being made holy.

In verses 12-13, we see that God has given church leaders. ‘Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.’

Paul asks the church to respect leaders, working hard, overseeing the church, who admonish. Sometimes there are hard things to say, urging earnestly, so that we continue to grow. There is always more to do than time to do it. And we don’t always get it right. I need your patience and love. God gives church leaders to help us progress in holiness.

But alongside church leaders, God also provides every member of the church family. You see, it’s not just leaders who have a ministry. It’s not just people in dog collars who do ministry. It’s all of us. So, everyone, all the brothers, are urged to ‘warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.’ There’s wisdom in knowing who is who, and what to do with each type of person, but this is every member ministry. And there’s another type of every member ministry in verse 15 as well:

‘Make sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.’ We don’t pay back wrongs, but instead, we’re called to be kind - not just to each other, but also to everyone else. Are we known as kind people? Here in church, but also in our workplace and our homes?

Verses 16-18 shows us how to react to the events of life, in the way that God wants us to react. ‘Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you.’ This isn’t just telling us to think positive thoughts and everything will be ok. This is urging us to tune our thoughts towards heaven - rejoicing in God’s love and care for us, and in what he has done for us. Bringing every moment of our day to him - all our concerns, all our thoughts, and giving thanks to God, recognising that he is the good giver.

But did you see what Paul doesn’t say? he doesn’t say give thanks FOR all circumstances. Paul isn’t saying that we’re to thank God for a flat wheel, or a worrying diagnosis. He says give thanks IN all circumstances. When these things happen, are there things we can thank God for? It changes our perspective, it tunes us into what God is doing, as he works every detail for his glory and our good.

And to bring us along the way, God provides us with guides. ‘Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.’

The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives - he wants to help us to grow and develop in our Christian life, and to make us more like Jesus. So we shouldn’t quench the Spirit - so don’t pour cold water on what the Spirit is doing and leading you to do. Don’t despise prophecy - God’s word to you, listen carefully, test it, to make sure it’s what God is saying, and hold on to the good. It’s like the wee boy who brought a lollipop into school for the show and tell. The teacher asks him to put it down on the table and share with the class which Bible verse he was thinking about. But he refused to set it down, as he said: ‘hold on to the good.’ He wasn’t going to let go, and neither should we. Hold on to the good, and avoid every kind of evil.

These are the dance moves, the steps to take as we become holy, more and more, as we look to the day of Christ’s coming. Sometimes our steps can falter, sometimes we might step on toes, but together we can learn the steps, we can do this together, as we prepare for the wedding party of the Lamb, and we join the dance.

For the new believers in Thessalonica, just starting out in the Christian life, they must have wondered would they be able to keep the faith, in face of opposition and persecution. Would they make it to the coming of the Lord? Would they really be blameless?

God has called us. God is faithful. He has provided for us in the death and resurrection of his Son - which we celebrate at his table today. And he has provided the way to become holy in everyday life - it’s in the church, as we encourage and strengthen and support one another. And the God who calls us is faithful. He will surely do it.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 2nd December 2018.

Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 The Day of the Lord

Today is an important day. Not only is it Remembrance Sunday, but it also falls on the centenary of the Armistice. One hundred years ago, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns fell silent, and the World War was finished. And so today is an important day, as we look back on that momentous day.

But we don’t just look back and remember past days - we also look forward to days that are coming in the future. This is the time of year when you start to get your new diary (has anyone got a 2019 diary yet?). And when you get your new diary, you go through it to write in all sorts of important days.

You write in your family birthdays, so that you don’t forget them. You might write in wedding anniversaries - not that you would forget that day! You might write in when your holidays are, looking forward to particular days. But there’s one day that we can’t write in. We know it will happen some day, we just don’t know when. We’re talking about the day of the Lord, when Jesus will return to the earth.

Last week, we were reminded of the hope that we have because of Jesus - that those who have died trusting in Jesus will be raised when Jesus returns. Today, we see what the day of the Lord means for those of us who are alive and waiting for him. So let’s look at what the Bible says about the return of the Lord Jesus:

‘Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.’ (1-2)

The return of Jesus is described as the day of the Lord. That’s a phrase that is used lots of times in the Old Testament, pointing to God’s victory over his enemies, bringing judgement to the earth and triumph for his people. But do you see how the DAY is described? It will come like a thief in the night.

Now, I hope this doesn’t happen, but imagine someone breaks into your house tonight. Do you think they would have texted to say they were planning to drop round tonight at 2.30am? Would they ring to check if it was ok to rob you? No, the thief in the night goes for surprise. It’s sudden, unexpected. You’re lying in bed, all is well, just turning over for your second sleep, when the window breaks and the burglar is in.

And the day of the Lord will be like that. Sudden, unexpected: ‘While people are saying, “Peace and safety”, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.’ (3)

Jesus’ return will be sudden. A pregnant woman might have the bag packed for the hospital, but she doesn’t know when those labour pains will kick in. And once they do, that’s it. You can’t say to the baby, ok, hang on a wee while, I want to finish watching this film!

The day of the Lord will be sudden. ‘They’ will be caught out, not expecting it. You see, Paul is writing to the Christians in Thessalonica. He writes about ‘they’ and ‘them’ - someone else, not the people reading the letter. They think they’re ok, but they’re not. No escape.

The day of the Lord is sudden, but for the Christian, it will not be surprising. We might not know the exact date. We can’t write it in our diary. We can’t put it on the calendar in the kitchen. But we know it is coming.

Do you see the contrast in verse 4? Verse 3 is all they and them, ‘But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.’ (4-5)

Has anyone ever been to a surprise party? I remember we had one when my granny was turning 80. Mum and dad had arranged it. All our family and granny’s friends were all in the function room, keeping quiet. Granny walked in, and got the shock of her life! It really was a surprise. She was in the dark, she didn’t know it was happening. but we knew!

And we, Paul says, aren’t in the dark about the day of the Lord. We know that Jesus is going to return. We’ll not be caught out, or shocked at the sudden surprise.

Do you see how Paul describes the Christians? ‘You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.’ We belong to the light, not the darkness. We are children of the day, we are connected to the day of the Lord. So for us, the day of the Lord will be sudden, but not surprising.

Have you heard the phrase where two things are as different as day and night? They’re so different, there’s no comparison, they’ve nothing in common. From verse 6, Paul continues the day and night theme. Here’s how the children of the day are to live. It’s completely different from those in darkness, because we are watching for the day.

Have you ever experienced jet lag? It’s when you fly far enough around the world to get into a different time zone. Your body thinks it’s midnight and needs to sleep, but it’s only 2pm in the afternoon. Or you waken at 3 am, thinking it’s morning time. Verse 6 is a bit like that. ‘So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.’

Those in darkness think it’s night, and do night time things - sleep or get drunk. But for the Christian, we are in the day time. How could we do night time things when the day is here? ‘But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.’ (8)

The night time can be a scary time. Paul says we’re to be alert, not distracted. We’re to guard our heart and our mind - the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation guarding our head. This is God’s armour, the God-given protection we need for every day between this day and that day.

Perhaps you look at the world, and see the way things are going, and you wonder what this world is coming to? One hundred years on from the war to end all wars, and yet wars continue to be fought. The freedom fought for continues to need defending. The darkness seems to get darker. but God wants us to hold on, and keep alert. We already have the day of the Lord in our hearts, and the dawn will break. Jesus will return suddenly, and your endurance and hardship will be worth it.

The hope of salvation keeps us going. This is what we’re waiting for - what we can already be sure of. Verse 9: ‘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.’

In Jesus, we already know the verdict. We know how the story ends. We can be sure that our destiny is not wrath, but salvation. Jesus died to make it happen. That’s how the helmet of the hope of salvation works. We know where we’re going. And that changes how we live each day. Even when we slip (and we all do), we have the assurance that Jesus died for us, and he has destined us for life with him.

We have a future with Jesus, secured by his blood, already in promise, and one day made final and complete. No wonder we watch and wait for that day with eager anticipation! We don’t know when it will be. We can’t write it in our diary that on a certain day, Jesus will return. But over the top of each day, we should write - maybe today. Today could be the day of the Lord.

The day of the Lord will be sudden but for the Christian it will not be surprising. So keep alert, watching for his arrival. And as we wait, we’re to encourage each other, and build each other up as we watch and wait for the return of Jesus.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 11th November 2018.

Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 Good Grief

When I was growing up, my heart was set on becoming a journalist. So all my work experience was in local newspapers. My subjects for A-Level and my university were all geared towards journalism. And then, in the summer before I started university, God ambushed me with the call to ministry.

For the three years of my course, I was fighting against God’s call. And I had my reasons all stacked up. I didn’t think I would be able to preach (maybe you think that too!); I didn’t really like hospitals and medical stuff; and I definitely wouldn’t be able to be do funerals. As you can see, God won out in the end, and here I am. And when I was ordained as Curate, I had a few weeks to work with the rector before he headed off on holidays. We’d be able to do any funerals together. Well, there were none. And then the morning he was heading off on holiday, probably just as he was getting onto the plane, the local undertaker rang to say that I was about to do my first funeral.

When it comes to death and dying and what happens next, there are lots of questions. Questions that you might think, but have never said out loud. And as time goes on, and you encounter loss - whether sudden or expected - the questions are still there, and never really answered.

It seems that the Thessalonian Christians had questions too. You see, so far, we’ve heard all about the things that they knew. Last week, we saw that they knew how to live to please God, by loving one another. But there were some things they weren’t quite sure about. And it’s understandable. Paul and the team had only been in Thessalonica a short time. He had shared as much as he could, but he wasn’t able to tell them everything. That’s why he prays that he’ll be able to get back to see them. It’s why he sent Timothy to see them.

And now Timothy has returned to Paul, bringing the good news of their continuing faith, but also bringing news of their uncertainty about death. It seems that some of the Christians in Thessalonica had died in the short time since Paul’s visit. And that leads to the question - what happens to them when they die? Will they miss out on the excitement of the return of Jesus? Are they gone forever or will we see them again?

Those are the questions that Paul is answering as he writes this section of the letter. And in verse 13, we see his purpose in writing these verses: ‘Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.’

Paul’s purpose is to provide information, so that they won’t be ignorant (without knowledge); but more than that, he wants to provide inspiration. We don’t want you to be ignorant, so we’ll tell you what the story really is. And we don’t want you to grieve like other people, who have no hope.

He is’t saying that Christians shouldn’t grieve. He’s saying that we shouldn’t grieve like other people, who don’t have the hope that we do. We mourn and grieve - but we don’t do it in the same way as other people. The answer is to have ‘good grief’ or hope-filled grief.

Rather than speculating about what may or may not happen, Paul grounds everything that he says in objective fact. He points to what has already happened to the Lord Jesus: ‘We believe that Jesus died and rose again.’ (14) That shouldn’t come as a surprise to you - we say that every week in the creed, whichever creed we use. It’s the basis of our Holy Communion service, as we reflect on all that Jesus did - he died on the cross, and he rose again to new life.

This is what we believe as Christians. But it also leads us to believe something else: ‘and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.’ (14)

Because Jesus died and rose again, it means that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Did you notice how Paul describes these believers? They have ‘fallen asleep’ - verse 13 and here in verse 14. To die as a Christian is like falling asleep - with the understanding that the one sleeping will waken again. And they have ‘fallen asleep in him.’ They are in Christ - united to him, with him - which is why God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. When the believer dies, their soul is immediately with the Lord in what we call heaven; their body is laid in the ground, sleeping, awaiting the resurrection to new life.

To be in Jesus is to be with Jesus - to go where he goes and to stay where he stays. It’s a bit like getting onto a bus. Where the driver takes the bus, you go too. Where he goes, you go. And the hope that we have is that Jesus is going to return.

Now, sometimes, we use that word hope in a wishful thinking, not sure if this really will happen kind of way. I hope it’s a nice day tomorrow. I hope my team win. I hope I get a space at the hospital car park. But the hope that we have - the hope of Jesus’ return to this earth - this isn’t like those wishful thinking, maybe possibly kind of hopes. No, this hope of Jesus’ return is absolutely certain. It’s sure enough to build your life upon. It means that you don’t have to grieve like people who have no hope.

And in verse 15, we see what our hope is. ‘According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.’ Those who have died, trusting in Christ, aren’t going to miss out; they’re not going to be second class citizens; they’re not going to be at the back of the queue. And we, who are left, who are alive when Jesus returns - we aren’t going to precede them.

So what will it be like? Verse 16 shows the events of that day: ‘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.’ When Jesus returns, we’re not going to miss it - he will be accompanied by these sounds - a loud command, an archangel’s voice, and the trumpet of God. All announcing his return. All heralding his coming.

And what will happen when Jesus returns? ‘and the dead in Christ will rise first.’ (16). When Jesus returns, those who have died in Christ will rise from their graves. Do you remember when Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave in John 11, and he calls to him, ‘Lazarus, come out’? A famous preacher said that he used the name of Lazarus, otherwise everyone in the tomb would have arisen. But that’s what will happen on the last day, when Jesus returns.

Then, the next bit in verse 17. ‘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 for ever.’

All believers, whether they have died or whether they are living, will meet the Lord. And it’s not just a passing glance, or a brief encounter - we will be with the Lord for ever. Maybe over the halfterm holiday, you’ve gone to visit family. You’ve spent a day or two with them, but the time comes when you have to return home again. School or work is back tomorrow. Or maybe over the summer holiday you spent the whole two months with family, and it was great, but even then, the time comes to leave them. When that day comes, when we see the Lord, we will be with him for ever. There’ll never come a time when we have to depart. We’ll never again be absent from him.

This is good grief; or hope-filled grief. When a loved one dies, of course we miss them; of course we mourn for them. But as Christians, we have this cure and certain hope - we will see them again, and we will be with them again - because we will be with the Lord Jesus. For ever.

This is the Christian hope, rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus - that we too will share in his resurrection, his victory over death. We will be with him.

And the application of this morning’s passage is straightforward. Sometimes, it can be hard to know what to do with a passage; what God is calling us to do in response to his word. This morning, though, it’s easy to know what to do. Paul tells us in verse 18. In light of all that we’ve heard, here’s how to do it: ‘Therefore encourage each other with these words.’

There is encouragement in these words, in this passage of Scripture. And so we can remind each other about the hope that we have in Jesus.

The grieving process can be different for everybody; some seem can mourn for a long time, others for a shorter time. But in the message of Jesus, we have the words to share, the hope to bring, the encouragement that we need to have hope-filled grief. And it’s this hope that means that I could deal with the medical stuff, and lead funeral services, and even try to preach. And it’s this hope that we can hold on to in difficult days, when we lose a loved one, or when we face our own death - as we’ll say later on in the Communion prayer:

Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 4th November 2018.

Sermon: Nehemiah 5: 1-19 Good news for the poor

On Sunday evenings, we’re listening in to Nehemiah’s memoirs, as he rebuilds the city of Jerusalem in the 400s BC. Nehemiah had been born in exile, in Persia, but he had heard of the state of the city from others who had returned to their homeland. And so, under God’s call and the king’s command, Nehemiah is in Jerusalem, rebuilding the city. But, as we’ve seen in recent weeks, there were problems and difficulties galore.

Last week, we saw him deal with the opposition from outside - the ridicule, the threats, and the attacks from his neighbours. Perhaps by the end of chapter 4, he thought that with those threats sorted, things would be easier. Tonight, though, we come up against an even bigger problem within the walls, within the people of Israel.

It’s a problem that we all may face at one time or another, but it threatened the entire building project. It was the problem of money - or rather, the lack of it. Money might make the world go round; and money, money, money might be funny in a rich man’s world (Abba); but it’s not much fun when you’re without. In fact, it’s life or death, as we see in the outcry that comes to Nehemiah’s ears from verse 1 onwards.

In these opening verses we have three distinct groups, each with their own particular problems, but the uniting theme is the lack of money. Verse 2 is the outcry of the first group. ‘We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.’

They were facing a shortage of food. They didn’t have any grain, and in those days, no grain meant no food, meant no life. Hunger is their daily reality, and they’ve no means of getting grain.

The second outcry comes in verse 3: ‘We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.’

So they have fields, vineyards, and homes, but with famine conditions, they are having to mortgage their property in order to get food to eat. Now, I know that the board game Monopoly isn’t everyone’s favourite, and it can lead to more rows than enough, but it’s probably in Monopoly that you first get to grips with the idea of mortgaging property - when you turn over the card to get some money, but then you can’t profit from the rent if anyone lands on it. It’s yours, but in a sense, it’s not really yours, the bank has a say as well.

And so, these people were in desperation, mortgaging in order to survive. Except, it wouldn’t have been the Ulster Bank or the Danske Bank they were dealing with - it would have been someone with money in the city.

The third group also cry out to Nehemiah about their situation. Do you see what they say in verse 4: ‘We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards...we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.’

They have property, but they’re not benefiting from it. So, when they need more money, they’ve had to put their daughters into slavery. Working for someone else, with no way out.

It’s the outcry of the poor; those who are needy; yet they are suffering at the hands of their own people. So what will Nehemiah do?

Well, we see his reaction in verse 6. ‘When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials.’

To hear of the situations that people find themselves in - that makes Nehemiah very angry. Why? Because what was happening was against God’s law. These people were suffering, because other people were profiting from their loss. We see that as Nehemiah confronts the nobles and officials: ‘You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!’

Now, that word usury - we may not really hear it much these days, but it basically means the charging of interest on a loan. And while we’re familiar with the rate of interest on loans and mortgages, back in the Old Testament law, usury on loans to fellow Israelites was forbidden.

So, Exodus 22:25 ‘If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a money-lender; charge him no interest.’ Or Leviticus 25: 36-37, speaking about your countrymen who becomes poor, ‘Do not take interest of any kind from him... You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit...’

So you see, this practice of usury, or profiting from people in need is outlawed. that was what was happening. It’s the reason why the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been speaking out against payday loans - Wonga and so on.

So Nehemiah confronts the nobles and officials. Look at verse 9: ‘What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?’ In the face of something so obviously wrong, he calls for it to stop. And more than that, he calls for restitution - for things to be put right.

‘Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them - the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil.’ (11).

The interest rate was low - 1% - and yet even at that, it was wrong. So how much more the payday lenders, where some interest rates can be 40% and some even as high as 99% or more!

The nobles and officials promise to give back the property, and also to not demand anything more from them. But even then, Nehemiah wants to make sure that they’ll really do it. So he gets the priests to administer oaths for them to obey; and he dramatically acts out the consequences.

Now, maybe I should have worn my robes for this tonight, but you’ll get the idea. He shakes out his robe, so that anything caught up in it would be flung out. And he says: ‘In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!’

Notice that it’s the man’s own house he would be shaken out of - initially I had thought it said shaken out of God’s house, but it’s the man’s own house and possessions. These men who have sought profit at the misfortune of others - their consequences would be to suffer the same fate, being emptied and shaken out.

Notice also, that this isn’t a private thing. The whole assembly is there, witnessing what’s happening; rejoicing at the restoration of justice, the good news for the poor. It’s a forerunner of the good news for the poor prophesied by Isaiah and proclaimed by the Lord Jesus. You see, God cares for the poor and needy - and so must we. It’s been good to help Craigavon foodbank in recent weeks, but could we be doing more? Are there other ways in which we can help those in need in our community? Do we hear the outcry of the poor? Do we care?

Nehemiah shows that he goes even further, so that he personally doesn’t add to the exploitation or suffering of others. From verse 14 on, he notes that the earlier governors placed a heavy burden on the people, taking forty shekels of silver as well as the food and wine allowance; their assistants lording it over the people.

But Nehemiah didn’t do that. For the twelve years he was governor, he didn’t eat the food allotted to the governor. He worked away at the wall, and didn’t go about acquiring land. All this he did, verse 15 ‘out of reverence for God.’

Instead, he paid for his own food bill, feeding 150 people at his table (it must have been a big table!). now, if you haven’t had your tea yet, you might get a bit hungry in verse 18. Every day there was one ox, six choice sheep, some poultry, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine. That was his daily and ten-dayly shopping list at Tesco. But he paid it himself ‘because the demands were heavy on these people.’

Nehemiah isn’t out for himself, and what he can get. Instead, he models the servant leadership of the Lord Jesus, who from the riches of heaven became poor for our sake, so that we might be come rich. He came to serve, not to be served.

The statistics about personal debt and foodbank use are scary; the need is all around us, and even within our church family. Are there ways we can speak up for the poor and oppressed? That we can act for justice. That we can live out God’s good news for the poor, the release of captives. May we know God’s Spirit leading us and empowering us to live out this good news. Amen.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 28th October 2018.

Sermon: 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-12 Living a holy life

Have you ever been driving off the beaten track? There are no signposts; there’s grass up the middle of the road; and you come to a crossroads. You haven’t a clue where you are. You have to decide what to do, which way to go. How do you make your choice? Pick one at random? Take the one that looks the nicest? Follow your intuition?

That was my experience lots of times when I moved to County Fermanagh. There weren’t any road names; there were fewer signs; and there were lots of roads with grass up the middle of them. I managed to get lost many times!

It doesn’t really matter which way you go if you’re just out for a Sunday afternoon drive, just exploring, and you know that sooner or later you’ll get back to a main road with some kind of signpost. It does matter, though, if you’re on route to preach at a harvest service, or going to someone’s house for dinner. Then, you’re late, you’re lost, you need some direction. Where to turn?

As we travel through life, we’re faced with all sorts of decisions about all sorts of things. Where to live, whether to marry and if so, who to marry, what to work at, what to do with your money, and so on. How do we know which way to turn? Will we do what we want, what seems best, the path of least resistance and greatest happiness?

As Christians, though, we want to know what God’s will is for our life - what does God want us to do? Sometimes, younger Christians can get so worked up about knowing God’s will for every detail of their lives, and knowing everything now! In our Bible reading today, Paul tells us what God’s will is for our life. In this passage, it’s not complicated - but working it out might not always be easy.

So look at verse 3. ‘It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.’ God’s will is that we will be sanctified. But what does that mean? Sanctified (or sanctification) is one of those churchy words that sounds great, but we don’t really know what it’s saying. But it simply means to become (more) holy. And holy, or holy living, means being set apart for God.

I’ve mentioned this before, but just in case you haven’t heard it, the illustration of being holy is the spoon in the sugar bowl. That spoon is set apart and only to be used for lifting the sugar out of the bowl. You’re not allowed to use it to stir your tea and then put it back in the bowl. Because if you do, then you get the hard brown lumps of sugar. The sugar spoon is holy, set apart only for use in the sugar bowl.

In the same way, we are holy, set apart for God. There are lots of things we could do, but we’re set apart to only do the things God wants us to do. Back at the end of chapter 3, Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that God would ‘strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy...’ (3:13).

So now he gets to the heart of what that will look like. In verses 1-2, Paul reminds them that he had told them how to live to please God. Paul had been with the church in Thessalonica for a short time; he had given them some instructions, which they had been following, but now he urges them to do it more and more. He’s asking them and urging them to live out this holy, God-pleasing life, by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

But remember that this isn’t going to be a ten-step programme to make God accept you. This letter is written to Christians, to people who have already turned away from idols and turned to the living and true God. This is instruction on how to live when we are saved; not how to live to be saved.

So what does holiness look like? What is God’s will for our lives? It means saying ‘no’ to lust. Paul breaks it down into three parts, which follow on from each other. In verse 3, we see the first of them: ‘that you should avoid sexual immorality.’

Notice that it doesn't say 'avoid sex.' Sex is God's idea. His good gift, to be enjoyed within God's proper boundaries - within marriage - husband and wife, as we see in Genesis 1-2 and affirmed by the Lord Jesus in the gospels. It's not 'avoid sex' but 'avoid sexual immorality.'

The word Paul uses there is the word ‘porneia’ - from which we get the word pornography. It’s any sexual activity outside of marriage. Adultery, affairs, flings, whatever they might be called. But it’s not just actions and deeds - remember that Jesus also says in Matthew 5 that to look lustfully is to commit adultery in your heart. We're to avoid immorality in our minds as much as in our bodies.

Following on from that - and so that we avoid sexual immorality - ‘that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God’ (4-5). The world around us will be different; they don’t know God, and so they live out their passionate lust. Just watch some adverts to see that sex sells. But we are called to be different - to control our bodies in holiness and honour. You’re not responsible for what someone else does, but you are responsible for yourself. God wants us to be self-controlled (one of the fruit of the Spirit).

But notice that it may not be easy and won’t come naturally - Paul says we’re to learn to control our bodies. So learn how to take control - if there are certain situations or places, or books or magazines or TV programmes, or websites that cause you to stumble, then control yourself - get away from them. Cut them out. Ask for help.

Thirdly, in this section, holiness will mean ‘and that in this matter no-one should wrong his brother (or sister!) or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.’ (6)

We’re not to wrong our brothers or sisters in the church; not to exploit them, or take advantage of them. In fact, not to take advantage of anyone. Yet women, often, are being trafficked - brought to the UK, forced to work as prostitutes, in fear of their lives.

We are called to be different. That call is expressed in verse 7. ‘For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.’ (7-8).

God didn’t call us to live an impure live, to say yes to lustful passions. He has set us apart for himself. And these instructions - they aren’t something that Paul made up; they’re not something I’m making up. They are God’s instructions - the maker’s instructions. He has called us to live a holy life - and to do that, we need to say ‘no’ to lust.

At the same time, God wants us to say ‘yes’ to love. Look at verse 9: ‘Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.’

Last week it was the parent-teacher interviews in the Hardy. The parents would have heard how their son or daughter was getting on - what they were doing well in, and what they needed to ‘must do better.’ The Thessalonians were top of the class at loving each other in a brotherly kind of way. They had already begun to do this; but even then, they’re urged to do so ‘more and more.’

And we see what it will look like in practice to love one another - but it might not be what we expect. So, fill in the blank. To love one another you would... Here’s how Paul completes the sentence, in verse 11: ‘Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.’

We might think of ambitions as super-successful, out of this world kind of achievements. Paul says that our ambitions should be an ordinary kind of quiet life, getting on with our work rather than minding other peoples’ business.

It seems that some people were so eagerly waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus, that they were giving up work to sit around waiting for his return. They expected Jesus to return today, or maybe tomorrow, so they wanted to sit around waiting for him. Why bother working? That was my approach to homework and essays - why bother doing my homework tonight if Jesus comes tomorrow and it's never needed. But then I found myself writing essays the night before they were due!

That's what some in Thessalonica were doing - sitting around, not working, just waiting. And without work, they were living off the kindness of others. But Paul says that the loving thing is to get on with your own work (if you’re able). In this way, outsiders will respect you; and you won’t be dependent on others.

God’s will is that we say yes to brotherly love. So how can we grow in love for one another? What are the ways that we can love one another, so that the outsiders watching on will see and say ‘see how these Christians love one another.’

As I said earlier, God’s will for our life isn’t complicated, but working it out may not be easy. Perhaps as you’ve heard what God wants for you, you’ve realised that you’ve taken a wrong turn or two. The good news is that there is always a way back. Today you can turn around, and God will welcome you with his grace and his mercy. It’s not too late to get back on track.

This work of being sanctified is a long term project, not a quick fix. It's what the colleges talk about - life long learning. There'll be progress, then a stumble or a falling back. We'll be doing this for the rest of our lives, but keep going as you live out the calling to a holy life.

We started with the wee country roads with no signposts, wondering what way to turn. Going to a friend’s house, we might have their directions. And as we come to those decisions, big and small, in our daily life, as we choose which way to go, and what to do, we have God’s directions - the maker’s instructions. God’s will is for us to be holy. He is guiding us, restoring us, forgiving us, and encouraging us. As you trust in him your home in heaven is guaranteed. And he will bring us home, as we listen to him.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 28th October 2018.

Sermon: 1 Peter 1: 1-9 Fruitful - Joy

What do you look like whenever you’re happy? You’ll have a big smile on your face, to show that you’re happy. And what sorts of things make you happy?

There are lots of things that might make you happy:
Not having to go to school tomorrow
ice cream
time with friends
having your favourite dinner
going on holiday
and lots and lots of other things.

So then, what do you look like when you’re unhappy (or sad)? You’ll have a big frown on your face. The smile has turned upside down into a frown. And everyone who looks at you knows that you’re not happy. So what sort of things make you unhappy?

There are lots of things that might make you unhappy:
having to go to school tomorrow
not getting ice cream
having to get a filling in your tooth at the dentist’s
being on your own
and lots and lots of things.

This morning we’re continuing to think about the fruit of the Spirit - the character and qualities that the Holy Spirit is wanting to grow in us. Can you remember which one we looked at last month? It was love.

Today, we’re focusing on joy - not someone you know who’s called Joy - but the character of joy that the Holy Spirit grows in us. Now, when we start to think about joy, we might just think that it’s the same as happiness. Sometimes we use the words in the same way so that you wouldn’t know the difference. But there’s a big difference in the way the Bible thinks about joy.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster? I don’t really like roller coasters, so whenever we went to Alton Towers with BB camp, I used to watch everyone’s cameras and bags and phones and wallets! What happens when you’re on a roller coaster? You go up and down and up and down. And our happiness, our feelings and emotions can go up and down, based on what is going on. You see, happiness depends on what is happening.

So if something good happens, then we’re happy. And if something bad happens, then we’re unhappy. Every day can be like being on a roller coaster. Up and down, happy or unhappy, depending on what happens - what the weather is like, and so on. Have you ever seen people being like that? Changing mood depending on what happens?

The Bible says that joy is different to happiness. Happiness comes and goes, but joy is something that we can have, even when things aren’t going well. So even if bad things happen, and we couldn’t possibly be happy, we can still be joyful.

That’s what we see in our Bible reading this morning. Peter is writing his letter to Christians who are described as strangers in the world - they don’t really fit in, they’re different to everyone else. And that’s what we are like as well.

Yet the mark of being a Christian is to have joy. Why are we joyful? Because of all that God has done for us:

We have been born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. Because Jesus died for us and rose again to new life, we have the hope of heaven and living for ever with God and Jesus in the new heavens and the new earth. So no matter what might happen in life, we have this hope of eternal life!

We have been given an inheritance - does anyone know what an inheritance is? It’s something that you’re given, that you inherit from a family member. And the inheritance we’ve been given can never perish, spoil or fade. It’s always going to be as good as new! It will never rust away or fade away.

We have been given protection - God shields us by his power in all that we do.

Hope, inheritance, protection - it’s no wonder that Peter says that ‘in this you greatly rejoice.’ (6) We are filled with joy, when we realise everything that God has done for us and given to us.

But Peter says that we can still rejoice, ‘though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.’ (6). Suffering grief, undergoing trials - those sound like the things that would make us unhappy, and you’d be right! But through them, we can still know and experience God’s joy - because even when we go through bad things, God is still with us, and God is still for us.

We are looking forward to the day when we will see Jesus face to face. One day, Jesus will return, and we’ll see him, meet him, and worship him. But we have never seen Jesus. Peter had seen Jesus, and knew him, and spent lots of time with Jesus. But the people who first got this letter, they were in the same boat as us. They hadn’t seen Jesus either.

Yet Peter says something amazing: ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’ (8-9)

None of us have ever seen Jesus face to face. Yet when we love him, and believe in him, we will be filled with this joy: inexpressible - you can’t really explain it, but it’s real, and really inside you, bubbling up out of you, no matter what is going on; and glorious - filled with God’s glory.

You might be the sort of person who feels as if they’re living on a roller coaster; you’re up and down depending on what happens. But God offers us his joy - a constant character of contentment in God, because of all that he has done for us, is doing in us, and will do for us.

You can be happy, and be joyful, but you can still be joyful even if you’re unhappy. Because joy is different to happiness. And joy is what God is wanting to grow in us by his Spirit - as we receive his blessings and promises, and grow in trusting him whatever happens.

This sermon was preached at the Church Family Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 21st October 2018.