Sermon: Psalm 113 - Passover Praise

When reading the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, there are lots of little details that seem to stand out. Small things that are mentioned, in passing, and then the story moves on. And, perhaps, as you read, there are things that you wonder about, things that you’d like to know more about, questions that you have. I have a few of them as well - stored up and ready for the day I meet Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and get to finally ask my questions!

Our series tonight begins to answer one of the questions that I had. You see, both Matthew and Luke tell us that at the end of the Last Supper, ‘When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.’ (Matt 26:30, Mark 24:26). Having been in the choir from the age of 8, any time I read that, I would always wonder, what hymn did they sing? And looking through the hymnbook, none of the hymns in the Church Hymnal seemed to be old enough, mot written from the 1700s on. So I stored up that question.

But now I know the answer! Within Judaism, there were set readings and set Psalms for every day and season. And at Passover, there were six Psalms that were set - the Psalms that we’ll look at between now and Palm Sunday - Psalms 113 - 118, the Egyptian Hallel. So as we study these Psalms in the run up to Easter, we are hearing the songs that Jesus sung as he celebrated Passover, as he prepared to go to the cross to be our Passover Lamb.

So let’s dive in to tonight’s Psalm, Psalm 113. And straight away, we see that it is a call to praise. That’s very obvious in the first three verses, isn’t it? In each of the verses, we find the word praise or praised.

I’m sure you know of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Maybe some time we’ll sing it in church. But that word ‘Hallelujah’ is the first line of this Psalm in Hebrew. Where we have ‘Praise the LORD’, that literally says in Hebrew ‘Hallelu Yah’ (see footnote). So this Psalm is like an Old Testament Hallelujah chorus, calling people to praise the LORD. It’s the first line, and it’s the last line, so it’s all about praising the LORD.

But we’re told much more than just to praise the LORD. We’re also told the who, the when and the where in those opening verses. In the rest of verse 1 we find the who: ‘Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.’ So the call is going out to everyone who is a servant of the LORD, who serves the LORD, to praise the LORD. And, as we’ll see, this isn’t just a select few, it’s not just those who wear robes or dog collars - it’s for everyone who serves the LORD in whatever way. So are you a servant of the LORD? This Psalm calls you to praise the name of the LORD.

As well as the who, we’re also told the when. Verse 2: ‘Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and for evermore.’ So when is the name of the LORD to be praised? Is it just for a short while? Just when it suits? Does it have an expiry date, a cut-off point, a backstop? No, it’s both now, here and now, and for evermore. The call is to permanent praise. So if it’s now, then it’s time to praise - it’s what we’ll be doing for ever, so why not start now?

So we’ve seen the who, the when, but what about the where? Is it just in the temple, or just in Jerusalem? No! The scope is much bigger than that - the call to praise goes out further: ‘From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.’ (3) The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west, so if the sun shines on you, this is a call to praise wherever you are. This is a world-wide call for worship.

Down beside the Odyssey in Belfast, there’s the W5 science exploration centre. Through lots of interactive displays, children are introduced to learning about their world while having fun. The name W5 comes from the 5 Ws - who, what, where, why, when. We’ve seen four of them already - the what of praising; the who - servants of the LORD; the when - now and for evermore; and the where - all over the world. The one we haven’t seen yet is the why - but that’s what verse 4-6 answer.

So why should we praise the name of the LORD? Why should we join in this Hallelujah chorus? We are called to praise the high-over-all LORD.

Do you see the sorts of words that are used to describe the LORD? He is exalted over (4), above (4), enthroned on high (5), stoops down to look (6). All those words combine to show us that the LORD is high-over-all. In Ulster-Scots, the chief executive of a company is the ‘high heid yin’, but the LORD really is high-over-all.

He is exalted high over all the nations. Remember that these are Psalms reflecting on the Passover experience of Israel - who had been slaves in Egypt. And so as the Israelites think of their past treatment at the hands of Egypt, or the current and future threats, and their time of exile in Babylon, time and again they had experienced the height of the power of other nations. Yet they remind themselves that God is higher than the nations - all the nations. He is exalted high over all the nations.

And linked to that, his glory is exalted above the heavens. Just think of the glory of the heavens - a glimpse of a rainbow, the majesty of a sunrise, or the glory of a beautiful sunset. Yet God’s glory is above the heavens. It’s above and beyond anything that we can see. So why should we praise? Because he is the high over all LORD.

And to make the point, in a slightly different way, verse 5 asks the question: ‘Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”

Who is like the LORD our God? The short answer is just two small words. Answer? No one! But the question goes on to show why no one else is like the LORD. He is the one who sits enthroned on high. He is enthroned - he’s on the throne, ruling and reigning over the world and the universe. And so the use of height emphasises his position - enthroned on high.

And verse 6 builds on that idea of height to show just how high over all he really is. ‘... who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.’ When was the last time you stooped down to look at something? Maybe it was in the shop, as you tried to decide which tin of custard to buy. For me, it was probably in a bookshop, stooping down to see what books were on the bottom shelf. The image carries the idea of getting down low, in order to better see something far below.

And what is it that God stoops down to see? The heavens and the earth! We look up at the heavens, but God has to stoop down to look on us, because he is so high above us, enthroned on high.

So far we have seen that Psalm 113 is a call to praise the high-over-all LORD. And you might be thinking that the ‘why’ has so far been a bit above you. Yes, God is high over all. But does that mean that he doesn’t really know us, or doesn’t really care for us? That even when he stoops down to see us, it’s like us stooping down to watch creepy crawlies in the garden, casually watching a few ants for a moment or two?

Nothing could be further from the truth. God is not distant, aloof, and uncaring. You see, as Jesus sang this Psalm with his followers at the Passover, he himself had more then stooped down to look on the heavens and the earth - he had stepped down to become man. And why did he do it? Was it just out of interest? A way to pass the time, to see what it was like to be human - a bit like the way the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip would drive around London in his own Black Cab?

Psalm 113 tells us why the LORD is worthy of praise. Did you notice back in verses 1-3 that in each verse it mentions ‘the name of the LORD.’ Your name is more than just what people call you when they want your attention. Your name also refers to your character, to what sort of person you are. And God’s name is to be praised because of his character - he is the loving, caring, redeeming, saving God. And that’s what we see in the closing verses. The LORD stoops down to look and steps down to save.

Do you see the verbs (doing words) in verses 7-9? Here’s what the LORD does. He raises (7), lifts (7), seats (8) and settles (9). He comes down in order to lift up. He comes down to make a difference by saving and redeeming.

So in verse 7, it’s the poor who are raised from the dust, and the needy who are lifted from the ash heap. They’re down and out and desperate and destitute. They’re in the lowest place possible, dust and ash heap. But the LORD intervenes, he steps down in order to raise them and lift them. And where are they lifted to?

‘He seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.’ Paupers are seated with princes, it’s a real rags to riches story. Or maybe rags to royalty. It’s what Graham Kendrick captures so well in his song ‘Meekness and Majesty’ - ‘Lord of infinity stooping so tenderly, lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne.’

This is why Jesus came, and why the next day, Jesus will go to the cross - in that down, down, down descent that Philippians 2 records, making himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, humbling himself, obedient to death, even death on a cross. But it was for us that Jesus came down, down, down, in order to lift us to be with him. It’s so amazing, and all of grace.

That’s why it’s so shocking that, as they eat the Passover and sing these songs with Jesus, the disciples are busy arguing about which of them is the greatest! They have been chosen to sit on the twelve thrones, the princes of Israel, by God’s grace, yet they want to make sure their crown is bigger and better than everyone else’s!

The LORD’s character is all of grace, to save and rescue. He raises, lifts, and seats. But verse 9 reminds us, he also settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Through the Bible there are a number of times that this has happened. The one that springs to mind is the case of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Indeed, verses 7-8 in this Psalm are a quotation of her song in 1 Samuel 2 (verse 8). Hannah herself was the barren woman given the child Samuel. But there were more besides - Samson’s mother (Judges 13), Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1), and Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

She waited for her promised son, Isaac for twenty-five years before he was born. And it seems that Sarah is in view here, as the mother of the children of Abraham. In view is the family of Abraham, the children of Israel, the people of God - God’s family. Together we are being brought into God’s family and household, through Jesus our Lord and our Redeemer.

Perhaps as Jesus sang this song with his disciples, as they shared the Passover, he was reminded again of what his mission involved, and what he would accomplish the next day as he died on the cross. Through his death and his resurrection, we see more clearly what our God is like - his name and character, his uniqueness, his universal reign - and it calls forth our praise.

And so Psalm 113, the first of our Passover Praise Psalms, is a call to praise the high-over-all God who came down to raise us up.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 17th March 2019.

Sermon: Mark 4: 21-34 Kingdom Parables

Last week, we tuned in to the Match of the Day highlights of one day of Jesus’ teaching. The main focus was on the parable of the sower - how the same seed is scattered over different sorts of soils, but the soils produce vastly different responses. We then got the inside track on what the parable is all about - the sowing of God’s word, and how people respond to it. Now, on Match of the Day, they’ll include bits from each of the games that have taken place, and from our reading this morning, we see that it’s further highlights from the same day of teaching.

Do you see that at the end of our reading, in verse 33? ‘With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.’ (33-34). We’re getting to listen in as Jesus speaks ‘the word’ - as he sows the good seed. There were many similar parables, but Mark is giving us these four so that we can hear Jesus’ words, and so that his word will produce a harvest in and among us.

That harvest theme comes in the two kingdom parables, which we’ll come to in a moment or two, but first, Jesus gives us two parables to encourage us to listen up, and to encourage us to think about the word that we’re hearing.

Maybe over the past week, you’ve been pondering the parable of the sower. You’ve been thinking about which of the soils you are. You’ve been reflecting on the ways in which you sow the seed of the word, and the responses that you’ve seen. Well here, Jesus is encouraging us to keep pondering, keep thinking about what we’ve heard him say.

In verse 21, Jesus asks a question. ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?’ So, even though there’s a quare stretch in the evenings, and the days are getting longer, there still comes a time when you need to turn on a lamp. For us, they’re electric, just a flick of the switch. For the people hearing Jesus that day, it would have been an oil lamp. But whether it’s electric or oil, the principle is the same. Would you turn on a lamp, and then cover it up, or put it under the bed? Answer - no, of course not! What good would it be?

He then continues by saying: ‘Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?’ With electric lamps, they’re probably in place on a table or unit. With oil lamps, they would be put on a stand. Why? So that things could be seen.

‘For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ (22-23).

Now, I must confess that I’ve been struggling to grasp what Jesus is saying here. And especially how it fits into this day of teaching. But I think I’ve got it now - and I think it helps us to see what Jesus is saying. Have you heard of a lightbulb moment? It’s the moment when you suddenly ‘get it’ - when you realise what something means. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as ‘a moment of sudden inspiration, revelation or recognition.’

Before it, we were in the dark about something, but now we can see it and understand it. And just as God’s word is like seed sown in our hearts, so it is also a light, or lamp. It shines in our darkness and helps us to see. Remember how last week (11), the secret of the kingdom of God’ had been given to the disciples? Jesus is encouraging all who hear to think about what they’ve heard - ‘If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ Because it’s as we think, and ponder, and reflect, that God’s word will turn on the light, and we’ll get it! We’ll have that lightbulb moment (or oil lamp moment!) as we hear what Jesus is saying.

And the next parable builds on that encouragement to listen, and particularly, (24) ‘Consider carefully what you hear.’ Think about it - because the more receptive you are, the more you’ll be given. ‘With the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’ (24-25).

These days we bring along our own shopping bags, and you normally know what you’re planning to buy, so you have the right number of bags with you. But here, the image is of something being given out, and you get as much as you’re willing to receive. So imagine that grain is being given out, for free. The bigger the bag or container you bring, the more you’ll be given. Or, imagine an all-you-can-eat buffet. When you’re going there, you make sure you’re hungry, you’re ready to eat lots, because you can eat as much as you can eat. But if you go and only want one piece of toast, then it would be a waste!

But what is being given out is more precious than an all-you-can-eat buffet; more precious than grain; what’s being given out is God’s word. The hungrier you are for it, the more God will give you. The more you take in, the more you will be given. One commentator suggests that while in primary school, to be called big ears would be an insult - this is what Jesus wants us to have, spiritually speaking. When you sit down to read your Bible, or when you come to church, are your ears big, ready to listen, to take in what God is saying? With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

So let’s ask God to shine his light in our hearts, to help us to grasp his word. And let’s ask God to give us big appetites and big ears to hear his word to us. Because when we do that, then we come to the promised harvest. This is how we’ll produce the thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold crop from the parable of the sower. And we see the harvest in the two parables of the kingdom from verse 26 on.

‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn... As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’ (26-29).

Jesus is teaching us how the kingdom of God comes. At the start, comes the sowing - the seed is scattered on the ground. And at the end, comes the harvesting. By then the plant has grown and is ready and ripe.

So how did it come about? Does it depend on the farmer? Not really - so long as the seed is sown, he doesn’t really have anything else to do with it until harvest time. Whether he slept from sowing time until harvest, the plant would grow. Whether he tried to stay awake the whole time, he wouldn’t make any difference to it. He doesn’t even know how it works - he just knows it does. Seed into soil equals a harvest.

And, building on the parable of the sower, we know that the seed is the word, God’s word. So when the word has been sown in the good soil, the harvest will come - you can depend on it. We can’t do anything to help propagate the seeds, we don’t need to keep digging them up to see if anything is happening below the surface. We can trust that God’s word sown in peoples’ hearts will bring a harvest.

You might have heard Martin Luther’s summary of how the reformation came about just over 500 years ago. ‘I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.’

That was Luther’s summary - I did nothing; the Word did everything. I don’t think I’d like Wittenberg beer; I don’t like any beer. But am I content to preach the word and let the word do the work? Are you? That’s what Jesus is saying - when we sow, the word grows and produces a harvest.

In God’s kingdom, his word is effective. But then Jesus goes on to show how in God’s kingdom, his word is also exponential. Look at verse 30:

‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.’ (30-32).

The contrast here is between how it starts, and how it ends up. You have the smallness of the mustard seed, something very tiny, 1-2 millimetres (0.039 to 0.079 in). It’s so small, unimpressive, it looks like it wouldn’t amount to much. Yet it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, big enough for birds to perch in its shade. The smallest becomes the biggest. We’ve a similar saying - great oaks from little acorns grow.

And Jesus says this is what God’s kingdom is like. It seems so small, so unimpressive - just Jesus, and his twelve apostles. But history shows how that ragtag bunch has grown into something much bigger. A while back, Regatta clothing company were running a special advertising campaign looking back at the history of the company, how a group of people had started to make affordable outdoor products back in 1981. Here was their strapline: ‘There were 12 of us. Now there are millions.’

Couldn’t that be our strapline? There were 12 of us, but now there are billions. And it’s because God’s kingdom is like the mustard seed, starting small but growing exponentially, beyond all expectation. You’re invited to become part of his kingdom, and it comes about as God’s word is sown and grows in your heart - as you hungrily hear God’s word, and as God gives you the lightbulb moment of understanding. The harvest is coming. God’s word is effective, beyond all expectation.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 10th March 2019.

Sermon: Nehemiah 13: 1-31 Remember Me

We all know how fairy tales are meant to end. From no age, we’ve heard the stories of Cinderella, or Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty. And they all the same way, with a fairy tale ending. You know how it goes: And they all lived happily ever after. We know how fairy tales end - and we are brought up to have the same kinds of expectation for our own real life stories. But I don’t have to tell you that real life stories don’t always end in the fairy tale way.

Too often we see in others, or experience in our own lives that, actually, things don’t always work out the way we expect, and people don’t always have the happy ever after.

I wonder if you were surprised when you heard the closing chapter of Nehemiah’s story? No matter what way you look at it, this is far from a happy ever after. Just in case you need to be brought up to speed, we’ll do a quick recap. Nehemiah had been cupbearer to the king of the Persian empire. He had been born in exile, far from Jerusalem. He had heard of the state of the city (walls broken down, gates burned with fire), and the people of the city (in great trouble and disgrace). And so he wept, and prayed, and answered God’s call to build up the city and the people - so that, in time, God’s promised Messiah Jesus would come from that nation.

And this book has told Nehemiah’s story - oftentimes like a journal, where Nehemiah records what happened, and also his personal thoughts and reflections on what was happening. And through the first twelve chapters, we’ve seen how God was gracious to him, and helped him and the people to complete the work, building the city wall in 52 days (despite opposition, taunts and threats); and building up the people of God through hearing, understanding and obeying God’s word. A day of repentance brought about a new agreement to follow God’s Law. And last week we saw how they celebrated the dedication of the wall, with much joy and rejoicing. That would have been the moment to end the movie, to roll the credits, and rejoice in all that God had done. And the caption on the screen would have said: ‘All they all lived happily ever after.’

Except, that’s not quite how everything turned out. From the highs of chapter 12, we plunge into the depths of chapter 13. And everything seems to have gone wrong. All Nehemiah’s hard work seems to have been for nothing. And so Nehemiah records what happened - and with it, records a series of prayers in the light of those events, each time asking God to ‘remember me.’

We get the timescale in verse 6. Nehemiah had arrived in Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and in the thirty-second year and returned to Susa, to the king. Some time later (we’re not told how long), he comes back to Jerusalem. And it’s on his return that he discovers how things have been going in his absence. And to his horror, he discovers that their determination to follow God’s Law has slipped away, and they’re repeating the disobedience of previous generations of the people of God.

So what went wrong? And how would Nehemiah sort it all out? That’s what we see in this chapter. And the first instance is in verses 1-3, where they were actually over-zealous in applying God’s Law. Mostly, when we think of falling away from God, we think of letting things go, not being so strict, of licentiousness, whatever goes. But obedience to God is like walking a tightrope. On one hand, there’s the danger of being casual about things (we’ll see that in the rest of the chapter), but on the other side of the tightrope, there’s the danger of legalism, trying to be more strict than God.

So when the people hear the Book of Moses being read, and they hear that ‘no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God’, the people are over-zealous in their response to the Law. In verse 3, we see that ‘they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent.’

But that was an over-reaction. It wasn’t even what God had said! In verse 2 we see why the Ammonites and Moabites were to be excluded. ‘Because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them.’ We’re back in the days when God had rescued his people from Egypt. And the Ammonites and Moabites were afraid of the Israelites, so that they refused to help them in the wilderness, and tried to call down curses. God turned Balaam’s curses into blessing).

So with verses 1-3 in front of you, listen to Deuteronomy 23:3, and compare and contrast. ‘No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation.’ Now, how did they get it wrong? By this stage, 1000 years later, they were long past the tenth generation, so any Ammonites or Moabites who wanted to come and worship the true God should have been welcomed; after all, Ruth was a Moabite, and she came to worship the God of Israel, and even ended up in the Messiah’s family line! But also, the short-term restriction of ten generations had only been for those two nations. Not, as verse 3 says, ‘all who were of foreign descent.’ They’re over-zealous, and getting it just as wrong.

But let’s move on to see the opposite danger of letting things slip. We see that from verse 4, with the neglect of the God’s house. Within the temple buildings, there were a number of storerooms, with a priest in charge of them. Now, this priest, Eliashib, he was closely associated with a name that should be familiar - Tobiah. He had been one of the main opponents of Nehemiah. And yet Eliashib allows Tobiah to move in to the large room in the temple buildings. It would be like us sub-letting the Vestry.

With Tobiah moved in, there was no room for the things that should have been stored in the storeroom - the grain offerings, incense, temple articles, and tithes. And so, things had slipped. Verse 7 describes it as an ‘evil thing’ and so it’s no wonder that Nehemiah threw all of Tobiah’s stuff out of the room.

Imagine Tobiah coming home, and finding everything he owns out on the street. The locks changed. And no room to move his stuff back in, because Nehemiah has purified the rooms and moved all the equipment and offerings back into the room again.

So why was this such an evil thing? Tobiah was doing his friend a favour, but he was damaging the worship of the temple. We see that because of the knock-on effect of Tobiah’s occupation of the room. With nowhere to store the offerings, the Levites and singers hadn’t been paid (in the food they were to eat), and so they had gone back home to their own fields. So you turn up to temple worship, you wait for the choir to sing, and there’s no choir. You look for the Levites to do their bit in the worship, and they’re not around either. The house of God is suffering, and the worship of God is suffering.

Remember back in the big agreement everyone had agreed to in chapter 10? What was the last line summary of the whole thing? ‘We will not neglect the house of our God.’ (10:39). Yet now, Nehemiah asks the question in verse 11: ‘Why is the house of God neglected?’

Nehemiah’s remedy is to re-establish the tithes (from ‘All Judah’), and to appoint different men to take charge of the storerooms, men who were ‘considered trustworthy.’ (13). And after that, we get the first of Nehemiah’s prayers: ‘Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.’

He’s asking God to remember him, but there almost seems to be a bit of self-pity - he has been faithful, even if everyone else hasn’t been.

In the next section, the problem is the desecrating of the Sabbath. Again, this had been part of the big agreement, that they wouldn’t buy from neighbouring peoples on the Sabbath day. But again, they have slipped away from God’s standards. Men from Judah are treading winepresses, bringing in grain, as well as wine, grapes, figs and other kinds of loads. In other words, they are working on the day of rest. And others are getting in on the act too - the men of Tyre, bringing in fish to sell on the Sabbath. So Nehemiah confronts the nobles of Judah, the leaders of the people, and rebukes them (17). ‘What is this wicked thing you are doing - desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.’ History was repeating itself.

The remedy was that Nehemiah ordered the gates to be shut, and not opened during the Sabbath. A few times the merchants came and spend the whole night outside Jerusalem, but Nehemiah chased them. And again, we get the second of Nehemiah’s prayers: ‘Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.’ (22)

He’s still appealing for God to remember him based on his actions, but now he’s asking for mercy, according to God’s great love (or steadfast love).

In the last section, we see the problem of inter-marrying with the surrounding nations. It’s not so much that other nations are wrong in themselves, it’s more that they don’t worship Israel’s God - it’s the not being unequally yoked with unbelievers that we find in the New Testament. But Nehemiah discovers the problem for himself with these marriages - half the children ‘did not know how to speak the language of Judah.’ In other words, they didn’t know and couldn’t understand God’s word and couldn’t worship Israel’s God.

Nehemiah is frustrated by this ‘terrible wickedness’ and takes out his frustrations on some of the men - rebuking, beating, cursing, and pulling out their hair. Why? Because he sees history repeating itself all over again. He points to Solomon, the great king, but he was led into sin ‘by foreign women.’

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out that the grandson of the high priest was married to a foreigner, and no ordinary foreigner at that, but the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Sanaballat had been the one who had mocked the work (2:19), had plotted against the work (4:7), and had tried to frustrate the work (6:2-5). Back in 2:20, Nehemiah had said: ‘As for you, you have no share in Jerusalem.’ Yet now, here he is, the father-in-law of the high priestly family.

So now we get another of Nehemiah’s prayers - the same word, but a different sentiment: ‘Remember them, O my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.’ (29). Remember them, not in blessing, but in judgement. That’s the tone of that prayer. And it comes out of a passion for God’s glory and holiness.

The remedy comes in verse 30 - Nehemiah purifying the priests and Levites of everything foreign, assigning them duties, and making provision for the worship of God in the temple through firewood and firstfruits.

By the end, Nehemiah appears to be demoralised, and disappointed. His efforts for reformation and revival have been frustrated, time and again. So what are we to make of his story?

We see that just trying really hard to keep God’s Law doesn’t really work. None of us can do it. We’ll fall into legalism or licence. And we simply can’t do it.

We see that sometimes, even our best efforts for God don’t seem to make much of a difference - at least not in our lifetime. Yet here we are, two and a half thousand years later, reading the story of Nehemiah, warts and all, something that Nehemiah could probably never have imagined possible.

And we see that while we may not have the fairytale ending in this life, God has prepared something so much better for his people. The book finishes with Nehemiah’s final prayer. A short prayer. Gone are his merits. Gone are his brownie points. And he closes with a simple prayer that goes like this: ‘Remember me with favour, O my God.’ A simple prayer for grace.

It’s a prayer not unlike the other prayer we heard in our second reading. It too came from a man at the end of himself, yet a man who was the complete opposite of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had struggled to obey God’s word, the other man was hanging on a cross, his crimes having caught up with him. Yet he prays a similar prayer that Nehemiah’s: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’

There’s no reason why Jesus should remember him. No list of merits, achievements and accomplishments. But none are much of a help. We simply need to come, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. And Jesus, the innocent one, dying on the cross for lawbreakers and sinners, gives this other dying man a great promise - the assurance of salvation: ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Jesus answers prayers like that, and prayers like Nehemiah’s last one, because he is the Saviour of religious types and sinner types and all types of people. And what is promised? Much better than a fairytale ending - paradise itself. No matter how things go in this life, or how our lives come to an end, like a fairytale or not, we have this promise of paradise to look forward to, and to enjoy forever.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 3rd March 2019.

Sermon: Mark 4: 1-20 Sowing Seed

Saturday evening’s TV schedule from August through to May is fairly predictable. After the game shows and Casualty, when the News has finished, then the familiar theme tune begins, and Match of the Day kicks off. I’m sure you’ll know how it works even if you don’t watch it. Every Premier League game played that day is featured, but they don’t show the whole game. Instead, they show the highlights, and then they talk about what they’ve seen.

This morning, we’re getting the Match of the Day highlights from another day of Jesus’ teaching. As we’ve already noticed with Mark, he tells us where Jesus is - he’s by the lake (1). And as we’ve also noticed with Mark, he focuses on the crowds that are gathering to hear and see Jesus. This time, the crowd is so large that Jesus has to get into a boat, out on the lake, with everyone along the shore, listening to all that he’s saying.

It’s in verse 2 that we see that we’re getting the Match of the Day type highlights. ‘He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said...’ So Jesus taught many things, but Mark is picking out one memorable parable to present here in his gospel. And it’s certainly a memorable parable. I’m sure that as you heard it being read, you thought to yourself, here we go, the parable of the sower. We know what that’s about. You’ve heard it all before.

But don’t switch off just yet! Don’t start organising your week, or counting the number of panes on the windows, or seeing how many sweets you can eat before the sermon finishes. Because this is a story about you. I’m not sure if Premier League stars tune in to Match of the Day to see what’s said about them. But this story that Jesus tells today is about you. You’re featured in it, somewhere. I wonder can you find yourself in it?

The story itself is well known. The farmer goes out to sow his seed. But don’t think of a high precision type of operation, where each individual seed is guided into a purpose-dug hole, for maximum yield. The word Jesus uses is (4) ‘scattering the seed.’ Think of a bag of seed, and the farmer scatters it as he walks along. And, as Jesus tells the story, we see that the seed really does go everywhere. Some on the path, which (Mary Poppins-style) feeds the birds. Some seed on rocky places, with quick growth and quick withering. Some seed among the thorns, where it doesn’t really get a chance to grow. And some seed on good soil, producing a bumper crop, thirty, sixty or a hundred times what was sown.

And that’s the story over. To round off the story, Jesus says, there in verse 9, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ So, did you hear what Jesus said? And if you did, what did he really say?

You see, it sounds as if Jesus was giving a lesson in agriculture - helping people to work out where they should sow their seed to get maximum output. Or maybe he was dictating a column for the Farming Life on sowing techniques. Is that what he wants us to hear? Or what is it all about?

Well, there’s something more going on here. You see, verse 2 had said that Jesus taught in parables. And a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. But what is the meaning? And why does he bother speaking in parables? Why not just come out and tell us what he means?

That’s a good question, and it’s the one that the disciples ask in verse 10. The crowds are away. It’s just Jesus with the Twelve and the others around him. And they ‘asked him about the parables.’ (10). They’re confused as well, they don’t really understand what he was saying. (So we’re in good company if we’re not sure either!).

Verse 11: ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”’

Jesus says there are insiders and outsiders. The insiders are his disciples, and they receive the secret of the kingdom of God. But those on the outside hear the parable, but don’t really understand what’s being said. Jesus is quoting there from Isaiah 6 (our first reading), where the prophet Isaiah is sent out by God to preach, even though the people aren’t going to listen to him. The same thing is happening here - the crowds are flocking to hear Jesus, but they don’t really hear him, they don’t really understand him.

We are in a privileged position, because we get to hear the inside story. We get to hear what the parable is all about, and so we can find where we are in the story. But first, there’s a little bit of a rebuke for the disciples there in verse 12. ‘Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?’ This is a basic parable, an easy one to grasp, so let’s see what it’s all about.

Verse 14: ‘The farmer sows the word.’ So in the parable, every time you see the seed, what is being sown is the word - God’s word. It’s the same seed, the same word. And God’s word is scattered, it’s sown everywhere and anywhere. But that word falls in four different types of soils, four different types of hearers. Every time the word is sown, you’ll have these four different reactions. So which of these are you?

First of all, some people are like seed along the path, with the birds. ‘As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.’ (15) That might be some of us here today. You hear what’s said, you hear God’s word, but before we stand to sing the next hymn, it’s gone. You’ll not think of it again. Satan has taken it away, so that it doesn’t even have a chance of growing in you.

Other people, they’re like the rocky places. They quickly respond to what they’ve heard - ‘they receive it with joy.’ (16). And you think - brilliant! They’ve got it, and they’re making quick progress in growing up as Christians! But in the rocky places there are no roots, and so ‘they only last a short time.’ (17). Quick response, and quick falling away. Why do they fall away? They’re not rooted and able to keep going when trouble comes. ‘When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.’ It’s not about how you start, but about how you finish.

Other people, they’re like the thorny places. They’ve heard the word, they’re starting to grow up, but other things are growing in the same place. ‘But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.’ (18-19).

So far, the farmer’s labours haven’t really seemed worth it, have they? Three quarters of his seed has been sown and he has nothing to show for it. And if you’re involved in sowing the seed of God’s word in whatever way, perhaps you can too easily focus on the discouragements - the people who don’t really seem to get it; or the people who started well and then fell away; or the people who got choked up on everything else.

But don’t give up just yet. You see, the last type of soil more than makes up for the rest. Alongside the path, and the rocky soil and the thorny ground, there is also the good soil. The soil where the seed produces a bumper crop, multiplying thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. It’s all worth it, and the harvest will be gathered in.

So why does Jesus tell the parable, and what does it mean for us? I wonder did you notice how the parable started and ended. At the start of it in verse 3, he says: ‘Listen!’ And at the end of it in verse 9, he says: ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’

Jesus is calling us to listen, to hear what he’s saying, for the word to take root in our hearts. The only way it can take root in our hearts is by listening to Jesus, hearing his word, and responding to it. So listen carefully!

And perhaps, as you hear the parable, and you identify yourself in the story as one of the soils - perhaps Jesus is challenging you to improve your soil, by removing the rocks or the weeds that keep us back from hearing and growing. So how soil-y are you?

But the focus is really on the sower. And we can find ourselves sowing the seed of God’s word in a variety of ways - formally and informally. Maybe in church, preaching, or in Sunday School or some of the youth organisations as you share something from the Bible; maybe as you share a nugget from the sermon with someone you meet; maybe as you share a verse on your Facebook or other social media; maybe as you have family Bible times around the kitchen table. But as you sow, you’ll encounter these differing responses. And you might be tempted to give up. To not bother sharing God’s word. But Jesus says to keep doing it! Because as you scatter, it will sometimes land on the path, or the rocky ground, or the thorny ground. But sometimes it will land on good soil, soil that is ready for God’s word, and the growth will be amazing, far bigger than you could ever imagine.

So this is a word for sowers - keep sowing, wherever and whenever you can. And this is a word for everyone who hears God’s word - listen up!

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 3rd March 2019.

Sermon: Nehemiah 11-12 Dedicated

If you were to put together the soundtrack for your life, which songs would you include? Perhaps there are particular songs that fit into particular periods of your life; songs that, when you hear them, you’re reminded of a specific day, or incident, or period of your life. Maybe the song that was your first dance at your wedding. Or a song from your childhood that sparks memories.

One of the songs that seems to stick in my memory was released 21 years ago. And twenty years ago, when I was finishing school, this was the soundtrack to our secondary education. It’s by Fatboy Slim, and the words go like this:

‘We’ve come a long, long way together,
through the hard times and the good.
I have to celebrate you, baby,
I have to praise you like I should.’

At the age of 18, those words seemed to sum up our schooling, and the end of an era that was the Wallace High School, Lisburn. But as I sat down to consider these chapters of Nehemiah, it seemed as if they could be included in his soundtrack as well. You see, we’ve come a long, long way together from when we first met Nehemiah back in September.

Back in chapter 1, Nehemiah was in Susa, the capital of the kingdom of Persia. He was an Israelite who had never been in Israel, born and brought up in exile far away from God’s promised land. He had just heard the news of the state of the city of Jerusalem, and it had caused him to weep.

The people who had returned to Jerusalem were in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates had been burned with fire.

City and people were in disgrace. It caused Nehemiah to weep, but more than that, to pray. And so Nehemiah prayed, as God had put it on his heart, to go with the king’s support, to rebuild the city and its people.

And since September we’ve been following the hard times and the good that Nehemiah faced back in Jerusalem. It wasn’t an easy job to rebuild the walls - not everyone was on board with the idea; and there was opposition from outside, threats, and taunts. There were problems inside the city too, as the rich exploited the poor to make a quick buck. But despite all those problems, the wall was built in fifty-two days. Nehemiah then turned to the other item on his checklist - to rebuild the people of the city. He did that through the reading of the Law, hearing what God wanted of his people - which led to joy (the joy of the Lord is your strength), but also to repentance, and a resolve to follow God’s word. We saw that last week in their solemn agreement, setting out their promises to obey what God had said.

Tonight, in chapters 11-12, we see the final elements coming together in Nehemiah’s grand plan of building up the city and the people. And remember why all of this is so important. God had promised that his Messiah, his king, would come through the Jewish people. So it’s vital for God’s promises to be fulfilled that the Jewish nation is intact and prospering - so that Jesus will be born. So let’s see how the final details of Nehemiah’s plan came together.

You might remember that back in chapter 7, we heard how ‘the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.’ (7:4). That is only really resolved at the start of chapter 11. The leaders live in Jerusalem, but there’s still more room. So ‘the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.’ (1)

The people themselves were tithed, a tenth of them to live inside the city of Jerusalem. And the rest of the chapter is a list of the residents of Jerusalem - at least 3044 men (plus wives and children) - from Judah, and Benjamin, as well as priests, Levites and gatekeepers. And we read of where the temple servants and singers settled.

Things really are coming together. And as chapter 12 comes, there are more unpronounceable names, with the family tree of Levites and priests. You’re welcome to have a read through them all later on yourself. But we’re going to pick up again from verse 27, at the climax of all that Nehemiah had set out to do.

And just as my old school-leaving song put it, ‘I have to celebrate you, I have to praise you like I should.’ Here we see the great outpouring of celebration and praise to God, because of all that has been accomplished in the city of Jerusalem.

The occasion is the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. With its dedication, Nehemiah’s building project is complete. The city will be secure, and returned to its previous position. The disgrace is finished, as they celebrate. And they take it very seriously!

‘At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The singers also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem.’

Now, with Holy Week and Easter on the horizon, the choir will be gathering from next week to practice some special pieces. (You’re very welcome to come along and join us!) And here we see all the singers from all their villages come together to sing along to the Levites playing their instruments.

But first there’s an important priority. Verse 30: ‘When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.’ Everything has been purified, has been dedicated to God. And so they’re ready to begin the celebration.

From verse 31, Nehemiah divides the leaders, the choirs, and people into two groups. And they’re to go on top of the wall in opposite directions, playing and singing God’s praise, until they meet up at the house of God. And the nearest picture I could think of as to what this would be like was, forgive me, the Apprentice Boys of Derry! Before their big parade in August, they parade around the city walls. And what’s going on in Jerusalem is a bit like that.

Do you see what they’re doing? They are encircling the city in praise. They are covering the city in praise. And with each step that they take, they are praising the God who fulfilled his purposes, despite the taunts and threats of the opponents. Taunts like Tobiah’s words back in chapter 4: ‘What they are building - if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!’ (4:3). Here, the people of God are walking on their wall. The work has been done. And God is to be praised.

By verse 40, both choirs have made it to the house of God. The singers take their places. The trumpets are sounded. And the note is a note of joy. ‘And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.’ (43)

If you were making a movie of Nehemiah’s story, this is where you would end. The camera hovers over the scene, as everyone rejoices, job done, and then pulls back, with the sound of rejoicing still audible, until the titles roll.

As Solomon, in an earlier period of Israel’s history had said when he dedicated the temple, ‘Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.’ (1 Kings 8:56)

Solomon could see the fulfilment of God’s promises, and yet there was more to come - not least the destruction of the temple he was dedicating. And for Nehemiah, he rejoices as he sees God fulfilling his purposes in his day, but as you can see, even his book isn’t finished, let alone the whole of God’s plans and purposes. So for us, even as we celebrate at all that God has done for us, as we look back, and see the long, long way we’ve come, the hard times and the good, and even as there is much to celebrate, and much to praise God for, there is still more to come. He is not finished with us yet.

For Nehemiah, the remaining verses of our chapter is setting practical details in place, things like storerooms and people to supervise them. They build on the precedent of what David and Solomon had commanded, and they provide for the service of God’s house, just as they had promised at the end of chapter 10: ‘we will not neglect the house of our God.’

Tonight, take an opportunity to look back; to reflect on how God has been at work in your life to fulfil his plans and purposes. Rejoice in all he has done. But don’t just settle for what’s happened in the past. Continue to look to the future, to dedicate yourself to his service, to look to what he is doing today, and tomorrow, and how you can be involved as he builds his kingdom, and works towards that great and final day of rejoicing.

Perhaps we can give the final word to Fatboy Slim:
We’ve come a long, long way together,
through the hard times and the good.
I have to celebrate you, Jesus,
I have to praise you like I should.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 24th February 2019.

Sermon: Mark 3: 20-35 Jesus: Mad, Bad, or God?

One of your friends has just started dating their new boyfriend or girlfriend. And then you’re introduced to them. Later on, or the next time you meet your friend, you know what they’re going to ask you. Well, what do you think of him/her? Or, something newsworthy happens and the TV cameras roll into town, asking people: what do you think about what’s happened? Or, on the way home from the rugby match last night, the chat was asking what did you think of such and such a player?

It happens so often that we’re probably not even aware that we’re doing it - but all the time we are forming opinions about other people. Every time we meet someone or see them or hear about them, we’re revising our thoughts on them - for good or ill. And that’s also true of our opinion about Jesus. Every time we open our Bible (or not!), every time we come to church and hear another little bit from Mark, we are forming and re-forming our opinion about what we think of Jesus.

In this morning’s reading, we get to hear some people’s opinions about Jesus. And these opinions might be influential, as you make up your own mind about Jesus. Because in this morning’s reading, we hear the verdict of Jesus’ family, those who had known him the longest and the closest; and we also hear the verdict of some religious leaders from Jerusalem itself, the centre of the Jewish religious system.

But what do you think of Jesus? That’s what matters. To help you narrow down what you think, CS Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, narrows down the options. There are only three. He says that Jesus is either mad, or bad, or God. Those are your options. And, it just so happens, that we find two of those options in our reading today. So as we dive into the passage, keep asking yourself - which of these represents my view of Jesus? What do I think about Jesus?

As our reading opens in verse 20, we’re in familiar territory in Mark’s gospel. None of this should come as a surprise. Jesus has entered a house, and again a crowd gathered. Mark keeps talking about the crowds following Jesus, coming to hear him teach, coming to be healed, coming to see who Jesus is. But this time, the crowd is so great, that Jesus and the disciples aren’t even able to eat. There are so many people, with so many demands, that Jesus isn’t even able to get a bite to eat. He’s so busy that he’s in danger of overdoing things.

But there’s an intervention on its way. Look at verse 21. ‘When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”’

So that’s the family opinion. They’ve heard how Jesus is getting on, he’s overwhelmed but still keeps helping other people, and so the family decide to intervene. They’re coming to take charge of him. And do you see how it fits into CS Lewis’ categories? The family say ‘He is out of his mind.’ He must be mad!

Now, later on we’ll see what happens when they arrive. But, while they’re still on their way to take charge of him, Mark tells us about another opinion about Jesus. And this one seems to be important. ‘And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”’ (22).

So these are religious leaders who have travelled down to Galilee from Headquarters in Jerusalem. They must have heard something about Jesus, and they’ve come to see for themselves, to investigate all that’s happening, to formulate an official viewpoint. And their official report says - ‘He is possessed by Beelzebub!’ He’s empowered by the devil, the prince of demons, to drive out demons.

We get another summary of what they’re saying in verse 30. ‘He has an evil spirit.’ So Jesus’ family think that he’s mad; the religious leaders think that he’s bad. He’s working on the devil’s team, as he drives out demons, or evil spirits.

So what do you think? Is Jesus mad? Is he bad? Or could he be God? To help us decide, it’s important to not just listen to what other people were saying about Jesus, but also to listen to what Jesus says about himself. And so from verse 23, we see how Jesus answers their accusation. ‘So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables.’ He’s replying to the teachers of the law, and he shows them how absurd their accusation is.

First of all, from the middle of verse 23: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.’ (23-26)

Now, very conveniently, both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party provided examples of this truth this week! There were divisions within each party, over Brexit and other things, and the moment came when the eight Labour MPs and three Conservative MPs left to form The Independent Group. Whether they’ll be able to stand together or not, we’ll see as time goes on. But the principle is clear - division and disunity leads to disaster. So if Satan is divided against himself, and Jesus is driving out demons by the power of the demons, then Satan is finished. So that’s ridiculous to think that Jesus is bad, that he’s possessed by Beelzebub or an evil spirit.

So what is going on? Why is Jesus driving out demons? How does he do it? ‘In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. then he can rob his house.’ (27)

Jesus is speaking in parables (23). And when you look closely at this parable, you find that Jesus portrays himself in a way you wouldn’t expect. So there’s a strong man, who’s in his house with all his possessions. Now, how could someone carry off the strong man’s possessions? You would have to tie up the strong man first of all, and then you’d be free to rob his house.

And the surprising thing is that in this parable, Jesus pictures himself as - not the strong man, but the stronger man who robs the strong man’s house. You see, in this parable, the strong man is Satan. He’s secure in his house. He has all he possesses. But Jesus has come into the world to rescue people from demons and evil spirits. Jesus can only do that because he is stronger than the strong man. He has tied up Satan, and is free to rescue people from his hands and his possession.

Satan isn’t divided. Jesus has come to oppose Satan; to overpower Satan; to bring about freedom; to bring about good. So he isn’t bad (as the religious leaders thought) - he is good. In fact, he’s more than good, he is God.

We can see that in how he speaks in verses 28-29. He says that there is forgiveness available for ‘all the sins and blasphemies of men’ - Jesus himself is the guarantee of that statement, because he is on his way to the cross to die to make that forgiveness possible. But there is one sin that is an eternal sin, for which there is no forgiveness. Some churches talk about mortal sins and venial sins, but the truth is that all sins are mortal - any sin deserves the penalty of death. But Jesus describes only one sin as an eternal sin, for which is there is no forgiveness. And it’s this: ‘whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ (29)

So what is this sin? It’s to describe the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of a demon. It’s to call ‘evil’ what is good. It is to deny that God is God. Verse 30 helps us to see what it is: ‘He said this because they were saying. “He has an evil spirit.”’

Jesus is not bad. To think that would be dangerous. But is Jesus mad? Remember, that’s what the family of Jesus thought. And by verse 31, they’ve arrived to take Jesus home, away from the crowds, away from everybody, for some peace and quiet and less of this mad nonsense!

So they send word inside the house to call him. Now, perhaps Jesus response would have confirmed their suspicions that he was indeed mad. It certainly would have been hurtful, even painful for them to hear. But the message comes: ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’

‘“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”’ (33-35).

Jesus came to rescue us from the hands of Satan, and when he does so he forms us into his new family - a family not based on blood relations, but on being brothers and sisters of Jesus. And the family likeness is obedience to God. Whoever does God’s will is part of the family.

That must have been hard for Mary to hear. She had borne him, had raised him, had given her all for him. It sounds as if Jesus has gone mad! Family ties were even stronger in those days than our family ties are these days.

But fast forward from that day, and we discover that eventually Mary and some of Jesus’ brothers become his brothers in the family of God. James becomes one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, and writes one of the New Testament letters (describing himself only as a servant of Jesus!). Jude, who writes another of the New Testament letters describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

And you can be a brother or sister of Jesus too. It depends on coming to a right verdict on who he is - not mad, not bad, but God, who came to rescue us from the strong man Satan; God, who came to give his life to secure the forgiveness of our sins; God, who came to welcome us into his family by giving us the Holy Spirit to help us to do the will of God.

So what do you think of Jesus? Mad? Bad? Or God?

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 24th February 2019

Sermon: James 5: 7-11 Fruitful - Patience

This morning we’re thinking about patience. Now, when I was growing up, my granny had a saying that went like this: ‘Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can. Seldom in a woman, and never in a man.’ Do you think that’s true?

So let’s do a little test. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 very patient and 5 not very patient, how are you...

when you’re counting down the days to your birthday
when you’re stuck in traffic
when you’re sitting in waiting for a delivery
when you’re in a queue
when you’re in the dentist’s waiting room
when you’re looking forward to half-term holidays

Now, if you’ve kept a note of your scores, then I’ll tell you later on what your score means... And if you couldn’t wait to hear what your score meant, then you’re probably impatient!

So how patient are you? If granny’s rhyme was true, then we all have some work to do. We’re not as patient as we should be. But why should we be patient? Why are we even thinking about growing in patience?

We’re looking at patience today because it is one of the fruit of the Spirit. We’ve already sung about the full fruit of the Spirit in our service - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And we’ve been looking at each of them in turn at our Church Family services to see what it is God the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us.

Some of us might be more patient, because of our natural personality, and some of us might be less patient, because that’s the way we are. But all of us can grow in the patience that the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us - because he is at work in us when we belong to Jesus.

So to help us think about growing in patience, I’ve brought along some things to help us. I need someone to help me - someone who is good at gardening and growing things. So I’ve got a planter, some soil, some seeds, and we’re going to plant these lovely flowers. We can see what it’s going to look like, we see the pattern and example here on the packet.

And for the fruit of the Spirit, the Lord Jesus is our pattern, and our example. When we want to see what the fruit of the Spirit look like in real life - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we can look at Jesus, and see how he demonstrated all the fruit of the Spirit.

And when we read the gospels, we find how patient Jesus was. He always had time for people, he spent hours and days caring for people and healing people, he was never in a hurry, in a word, he was always patient.

And in our first reading, we see just how patient the Lord still is. You see, Jesus lived, and then died on the cross as our Saviour to take away our sins. He was raised to new life on the first Easter Sunday, and he ascended back to heaven, promising his disciples that he would come again. Peter says that, as time goes on, and Jesus hasn’t yet returned, people are going to be asking, so, where is he?What about this return that he promised? And some will even think that Jesus isn’t going to come back at all.

But in verse 9, Peter tells us what’s going on. ‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ The reason that Jesus hasn’t come back to this earth yet isn’t because he’s slow at keeping his promises. No, he is being patient, giving us more time to turn to him, to repent and trust him. If Jesus had returned fifty years ago, then many of us wouldn’t have been in his kingdom. Or thirty years ago, or ten years ago. Some of us here in Richhill have become Christians, followers of Jesus, in the last year - that’s why Jesus hadn’t already come back this time last year. He was being patient. And maybe the reason he hasn’t already come back is so that you repent today - as we’ll see in the Baptism questions a little later on, to repent is to turn away from sin, and to turn towards God.

The Lord is patient towards us, not wanting us to perish, but wanting us to turn to him, before he finally returns. And because Jesus is patient, we who follow him, we want to be patient too, to be like Jesus in every way. That’s what our other reading is about. Being patient.

Do you remember what we planted earlier on? I’m just wondering to myself, have those seeds done anything yet? Have they started to grow and sprout? So I’ve got my little trowel here. Boys and girls, do you think it would be a good idea to dig them up to see if they’ve started to grow?

It would be a bad idea! I need to be patient, to wait for the seeds to sprout and grow in their own good time. It wouldn’t help the seeds if I was digging them up every five minutes to see if they’re doing anything. I need to be patient. And that’s what James, the brother of Jesus tells us in his letter. He says: ‘Be patient, then brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.’

The farmer doesn’t harvest his crops until they’re ready. He has to wait for the rains in the autumn and in the spring before his harvest is ready. And we need to be patient as we wait for Jesus to return. But that’s not always easy. We see all the bad things happening in the world, and we know that Jesus will put all things right when he comes, and so we have to wait patiently.

And we need to be patient with other people - just like Jesus was. We need to see people the way Jesus sees them - as the people we are to love and care for and help and talk to about Jesus.

Many of us will know Psalm 139. It’s a Psalm about how amazing and wonderful God is, that he knows everything about us, wherever we go, whatever we’re about to say - God knows everything about us. And no matter where we could go, God is always with us. And, as we come to the Baptism of little Rachel, the Psalm also talks about how God ‘created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.’ And then it says this: ‘All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’

So often we’re always looking forward, always rushing on to the next thing. So maybe you were eagerly waiting for Rachel’s birth - we can’t wait to meet her! And maybe you’re eagerly waiting for her to start walking and talking - we can’t wait for her first steps! But all of us can get caught up in this - we can’t wait to finish school. We can’t wait to start our first job. We can’t wait to get married. We can’t wait to get a bigger house. We can’t wait to have children. We can’t wait to retire. We’re always looking forward, wanting the next big milestone to come. Always rushing on, a microwave society always in a rush.

But every one of our days has already been written down. God knows how long we’ve got. And so we don’t need to rush on. We can be patient, taking each day at a time. Seeing what God has prepared for us to do today - in the people we meet, the opportunities we have, the places we find ourselves. It doesn’t come naturally, and it may not come easily. But God is calling us to be patient, and to grow in patience, to become more like the Lord Jesus. And God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us to grow his fruit of patience in us. So let’s pray, as we seek to follow Jesus in this way.

This sermon was preached at the Church Family Service with Baptism in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 17th February 2019.

Sermon: Mark 2:23 - 3:6 Lord of the Sabbath

Last week we saw how Jesus says that his kingdom is something new and different to what has gone before. He used those two pictures of how a new patch of cloth will pull away from the old garment, making the tear worse; and how new wine poured into old wineskins would burst them. New cloth is for new clothes, and new wine is for new wineskins.

And over the past few weeks we’ve seen how Jesus is doing a new thing in these opening chapters of Mark’s gospel. He claims to have the power to forgive sins and heal. He calls tax collectors and sinners, and eats with them as friends. His disciples don’t bother fasting in anticipation of Messiah’s arrival - because Jesus says he is the Messiah and he is already here! But perhaps the biggest battle in these early chapters is about the nature of the Sabbath.

Now, just in case you’re not familiar with that word, Sabbath means seven or seventh - the seventh day of the week (Saturday). And in the Ten Commandments, we read these words: ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work...’ (Ex20:8-11).

So the pattern of creation, and then the law, is work six, and rest one. And our passage this morning focuses on the events of two separate Sabbath days - in both of which, Jesus runs up against the expectations of the religious people. [Remember that the chapter divisions are a more recent development. Mark has grouped these two stories together for a purpose. We’ll see what that is as we work our way through the passage.]

You might remember that all the way through Mark 2, each episode has contained a question asked by someone - in these two episodes there is a question in each. One is asked by the Pharisees, but the second is asked by Jesus himself. So let’s dive in, to see what happened on the first Sabbath day.

‘One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”’ (23-24)

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I’m on a walk, I tend to pick up or pluck things. So, in the beach, I keep an eye out for shells or smooth stones. Or in the forest, maybe a nice leaf or conkers. And as the disciples walk through the cornfield, they pluck some ears of corn.

But the Pharisees, they see this happening, and they aren’t happy about it. The Pharisees, they’re the religious people. They take the Bible seriously, they work hard to obey it all, and so they ask the question: ‘Why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?’

We’ve heard what the Law says - keep the Sabbath day holy... don’t work on the Sabbath. So what’s the problem? Well, the Pharisees, they wanted to make absolutely sure what the law meant, and so they had rules about the rules. There were, according to the Pharisees, 39 types of work that were banned on the Sabbath. Among them was sowing, ploughing, reaping, threshing and winnowing.

So, to them, the disciples were reaping, picking ears of corn; and they were probably threshing to separate the grain from the husk. For the Pharisees, the disciples were doing what was unlawful.

So how will Jesus respond? Not in the way you might have thought. He doesn’t directly answer the question, but instead reminds them of a story from the Old Testament, that we heard read earlier. But do you see how he starts it? ‘Have you never read...?’ These were the serious Scripture scholars of his day! They knew whole chunks, if not the whole of the Old Testament. Yet he asks them if they’ve ever read this bit about David.

And what’s the story? David and his men ate the consecrated bread from the house of God - bread that was only lawful for priests to eat. So the law said that only priests could eat this consecrated bread. But David and his men ate it. Why did it happen? Why was it ok? Look again at verse 25. ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?’

The law was important, but feeding the anointed king and his men when they were hungry was more important. Ensuring their survival was more important than keeping the law. So the reason the disciples were doing it was because they were hungry!

But do you see what Jesus says in verse 27? ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’ What is Jesus saying there? He’s dealing with purpose. Which was made for which? Which is to help and serve which? The Pharisees, they seemed to be elevating the Sabbath, so that the keeping of it was more important than anything else ever. So even if you’re hungry, tough, you can get something tomorrow. That would be man being made for the Sabbath - man created in order to obey the rule.

But Jesus turns that on its head. ‘The Sabbath was made for man.’ Sabbath isn’t meant to be a duty, a drudgery. It’s meant to be a delight. Sabbath, a whole day of no working, of rest from labours, is a gift to God’s people and to everyone. Sabbath was made for man, not the other way round. And, so that we get it absolutely right, Jesus reminds us that he is Lord, even of the Sabbath. He has given it as a blessing, not a burden.

Now, as you might imagine, that didn’t really go down too well with the Pharisees. Jesus didn’t seem to value what they valued and didn’t seem to do what they wanted him to do. And so, they’re watching carefully to gather more ammunition for their opposition to him.

So as chapter 3 starts, it’s a different Sabbath day, but the same battle is raging. Jesus is in the synagogue, the Jewish meeting house where they came together for teaching and prayer and worship. And we’re told who else is there - there’s a man with a shrivelled hand (a withered hand, in some versions), and this group of people watching carefully.

Look at verse 2. Now, there might be lots of reasons why you have come to worship today, I hope this isn’t why you’re here: ‘Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.’ They were evidence gathering! They were wanting to accuse Jesus, so they watch him closely, in case he does something unlawful - making someone better on the Sabbath. (Again, that would be classed as work).

But Jesus doesn’t hide away in the corner. And they don’t have to watch very closely. Jesus gets the man to stand up in front of everyone. He’s making sure no one will miss what he is about to do. But first, Jesus asks a question. (Up to now, it’s been others asking the questions, but now Jesus has one of his own.) ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’

What do you think? It’s a multiple choice question. Of the four answers, they’re really two answers. So it’s like Who wants to be a millionaire, and you’re down to the 50/50. Which is lawful? Answer A: To do good and to save life. Or Answer B: To do evil and to kill. Who thinks A? And B?

You’ve done a better job of answering than those in the synagogue that day! The answer is obviously A - it’s lawful and right and good and proper to do good and to save life, even on the Sabbath day. That’s what Jesus wanted to hear, and it’s what Jesus will go on to do as he restores the man’s hand. But do you see how verse 4 ends? ‘But they remained silent.’ They refused to answer. They didn’t want to acknowledge that Jesus was right.

Do you see how Jesus responds to their silence? As we look at verse 5, you might be shocked. You might need to look at it twice, just to make sure it says what you think it says there: ‘He looked round at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”’

You remember those WWJD bracelets that have been around for a while now? Seemingly they don’t stand for ‘Who wants jam donuts?’ But they stand for ‘What would Jesus do?’ And here, what does Jesus do? He gets angry. He looks at them in anger. We’re not used to thinking of Jesus as being angry, are we? So what made him angry? And what made him deeply distressed? The stubborn hearts of the Pharisees.

Their principle was more important to them than helping someone in need. Their rules were more important than their compassion. And it made Jesus angry. Could there be times when we make Jesus angry in this way? We have a rule, or a principle, and we’ll stick to it? And we’ll watch carefully to criticise others who don’t do things the way we do them? And we’ll use it as an excuse to avoid helping someone in need?

Jesus shows us that the Sabbath isn’t about rules, it’s about relationship - taking time out with God and his people on a day of rest and refreshment.

But the Pharisees didn’t like what Jesus was doing. To quote the old song: ‘There may be trouble ahead.’ Verse 6: ‘Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.’ Do you see the irony here? They’ve been so concerned about keeping the Law, observing the fourth of the Ten Commandments (or at least their interpretation of it), that now they’re plotting to break the sixth commandment - ‘You shall not murder.’

This morning we remember and celebrate the death of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. He perfectly observed and obeyed the Law, so that he credits our account with his perfect righteousness, while paying the debt we could not pay. And on the first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord’s Day, Jesus rose from the grave, to bring about the eternal Sabbath rest. It’s why Jesus offers us rest in one of the ‘Comfortable Words’ from the traditional communion service: ‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’

Lay down your burdens. Give up your attempts at working to earn God’s favour. And receive his rest.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 3rd February 2019.

Sermon: Nehemiah 9: 1-38 Saying Sorry

It’s one of the first words that children learn to say, but it’s perhaps one of the words that they don’t really want to say. And so, often, I’ve watched as the child is kept back from playtime or privileges, maybe perched on the naughty step or time out zone, until they say the five letter word. What is it? Sorry. As Elton John once sang, Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Tonight we’re listening in as the Israelites do just that. They have gathered together to say sorry. The chapter heading put in by the NIV publishers says ‘The Israelites confess their sins’ but that’s another way of them saying sorry to God.

Last week, in chapter 8, we saw how the people had gathered together a few weeks before. Then, they had heard the Book of the Law read out for over five hours. And as they heard God’s Law, they wept, because they realised they had fallen short and failed to obey. But on that occasion, they were told not to weep, because the joy of the Lord is their strength - that joy of hearing, understanding and obeying God’s word.

But now, three weeks later, they are here to do business with God. There’s no party atmosphere this time. They have come to weep and mourn and confess their sins. Do you see how they do it in verse 1? ‘Fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads.’ These are all signs of mourning. They are here to confess, to say sorry to God.

Notice that it’s those of Israelite descent (2), they have separated themselves from all foreigners. And they are confessing ‘their sins and the wickedness of their fathers.’ They’re owning up to their own sin, rather than just blaming the generations past. They’re serious about saying sorry. And it shows - for a quarter of the day, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God. Another quarter is spent in confession and in worshipping the LORD their God.

This seems to be private, rather than corporate - each person meeting with God and confessing their own sins. And offering praise to God. but from verse 4 we see what was said from the front, as the Levites (all those guys again) lead the people - calling in loud voices to the LORD their God (4) and in calling the people to ‘Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.’ (5).

The bulk of the chapter, however, is taken up in the form of this long prayer. It appears to be led by the Levites, as they speak to God and confess the sins of the people. But did you notice how it’s composed?

What was your favourite subject in school? Maybe maths or English. Maybe geography or science. Or maybe history. You see, this prayer, this confession, is a retelling of the history of God’s people. This prayer is going to be like a history lesson for God’s people, reminding them (and us) of how things have gone in the history of God’s dealings with his people.

So as the people stand up to praise, that’s where this prayer begins. It begins in praise of God, verse 5-6. There’s praise for God because of who he is, and because of what he has done - his acts of creation. The prayer begins with that desire that God’s glorious name will be blessed and praised, exalted above all blessing and praise. So however much praise anyone else gets - sports stars or pop stars - God’s praise is to be exalted above all other praise. Why? Because God alone is LORD, the God who made everything - the heavens, the starry host, the earth and all on it, the seas and all in them. God made everything, and gave life to everything, so that it is right and proper that the multitudes of heaven worship him.

So when we come to pray, we do well to remember who it is we’re speaking to. His glory, majesty, power. The one who deserves our praise and worship.

From verse 7 through to 15, we get a recap of Israel’s history - all the things that God has done. So, in verse 7, we hear how the LORD God chose Abram, brought him from his homeland, and gave him a new name, Abraham. God then made a covenant with him, to give his descendants the promised land. And the summary is that ‘You have kept your promise because you are righteous.’ (8).

God also saw the suffering of his people in Egypt, and their cry at the Red Sea. And so, God sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, working to save his people; and making a name for himself. God split the sea for the Israelites, but drowned their pursuers. And he led his people with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.

And he gave his people his law at Mount Sinai, God coming down to his people, speaking to them from heaven. God fed his people with bread in their hunger, and gave them water when they were thirsty, and told them to go in and take the promised land.

God had done all this, he had provided and protected and fulfilled his promise so many times. And how did the people respond? We see their response in verse 16. ‘But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.’

They rebelled against God, even when he had done so much for them. In fact, they even wanted to turn back to Egypt, and appointed a leader to do that. They preferred the thought of slavery, rather than obeying God, whose service is perfect freedom.

What did they deserve from God? They deserved punishment! They had disobeyed, and yet how did God respond? ‘But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them...’ God didn’t abandon them to judgement, didn’t leave them to wander on their own, not even when they made the golden calf. God was patient towards them. They lacked nothing, having God’s provision, God’s Spirit instructing them, and even their clothes didn’t wear out or their feet swell.

Those were the wilderness years. Surely it would be better when they were in the promised land? We see that account from verse 22. God giving kingdoms and nations into their hands. Fulfilling the promise of descendants like the stars in the sky. They captured the land, filled with good things, ‘they ate to the full and were well-nourished; they revelled in your great goodness.’ (25).

But at the start of verse 26, we find that word ‘but’ again. ‘But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you.’ And the pattern would continue. God would send enemies to them, the people would cry out, God would save them, then things would go bad again, and round and round the pattern continued.

But it wasn’t just like playing on a roundabout or a merry-go-round, where you go round and round and then stop where you started. No, this pattern of going round and round was more like a spiral staircase, going round and round, but also going down and down, each time things getting worse, farther and farther from God.

The arrogance continued (29), they continued to turn their backs on God, but God was still patient. Yet God’s patience came to an end, and he handed the people over to the neighbouring peoples. And even then, he didn’t make an end of his people - why? ‘For you are a gracious and merciful God.’ (31)

In verse 32, we see the final plea, the appeal, for God to help his people. They appeal to ‘our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love’ - asking that God would help them. They know they don’t deserve any help - ‘In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.’ (33). So because they can’t ask for justice, they must ask for grace. They’re in the mess they are in because of their sin.

They’re slaves in their own land. Another king rules over them, enjoying the harvests of the land of promise. And how do they sum up their position? ‘We are in great distress.’ They are experiencing the miseries of sin. They are, as the traditional language service puts it, ‘miserable offenders.’ They don’t deserve anything, but they look to the God of their fathers; the God of the covenant. Did you notice how God has been described?

He’s from everlasting to everlasting; blessed; righteous; the promise-keeper; the Lord who worked miraculous signs and wonders; the provider; forgiving, gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and abounding in love; patient; gracious and merciful.

This is our God. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. He still offers us his compassion and mercy - even when you think you have blown it. There is still the opportunity to come back to him, to turn around and return to him. Indeed, as Romans 5:20 says, ‘where sin increased, grace increased all the more.’

And that grace of God is seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus, where our God took upon himself the penalty our sins deserved, in order to give us his righteousness. Forgiveness is available, freely given, if you’ll but ask and receive it.

For Nehemiah and his people, their repentance leads to action. They make a binding agreement, as they resolve to change. We’ll see it next time we’re in Nehemiah. But tonight, perhaps as you fall asleep, take a few moments to reflect on your own life story, on the ways in which God has been faithful, even when you’ve turned your back on him. And rejoice once more in his grace and mercy, his steadfast, and the forgiveness found in the Lord Jesus.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 27th January 2019.

Sermon: Mark 2: 18-22 All Things New

Have you ever wondered to yourself why we do things the way we do them here in St Matthew’s? Perhaps this is your first visit here, and you’ve had some questions pop into your head this morning. Questions like, why is the minister wearing what looks like a black dress and a white sheet? Or, why do we stand up and sit down so many times? Or, why will we sprinkle some water over Henry’s head in a few minutes’ time?

But even if this is your millionth visit to St Matthew’s, you still might have some questions about why we do things the way we do them. Especially if you’ve been to a different sort of church. So, for example, my brother-in-law is a Presbyterian minister. Right now, he is probably standing in his pulpit, preaching. But if you could change the channel, or if he appeared by videolink on the screen, you would notice some differences in how we do things. He’s wearing a shirt and tie, and no fancy robes. They’ll have sung some Scottish metrical Psalms. They sit down and don’t sing when the offering is being received. And he’ll probably preach for a lot longer than this sermon!

And, when you notice the differences between us, you’d want to know why. Why does he do this, and I do something different? This sort of question is what is happening in our Bible reading this morning. Some people have noticed that Jesus’ disciples, his followers, are doing something different to other religious groups. And so they want to know why that is.

We see how the question comes about there in verse 18 (p1004). ‘Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.’ The John there is John the Baptist, the man who had prepared the way for Jesus, and had got people ready for Jesus’ coming. And the Pharisees, they were a Jewish religious group. They hoped that they would bring about God’s kingdom by their keeping of the Old Testament laws. So they didn’t just keep the rules, they made up more rules about the rules, and kept them as well. They were strict in their religious practices.

And both groups, John’s disciples and the Pharisees, were both fasting. That is, they weren’t eating any food, maybe for a day, maybe for longer, for a religious reason. Everyone knew that they were fasting. They made it clear and obvious so that everyone else would know just how seriously they were taking their religion.

So it was also noticeable that Jesus and his disciples weren’t fasting. They were eating as normal. They weren’t keeping the same strict regime as those other religious groups. And that’s why the question is asked of Jesus: ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?’ (18). They’re standing out, not doing something all the other religious people are doing. Why not?

As Jesus answers, he says that, basically, this disciples shouldn’t be fasting when it’s feasting time. Let’s look at what he says: ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, as long as they have him with them.’ (19)

Today is a special and significant day for Henry and for his family and friends. It’s a day of joy and delight. Imagine if you all gather after the service, only to be told, we aren’t going to have any food or drink to celebrate. We’re just going to keep a fast together. That wouldn’t be much of a party!

And that’s exactly what Jesus is saying. He says that he is the bridegroom, and so there’s a party. Jesus is the one who brings joy - so how could his followers fast and mourn? Some writers suggest that the fasting of the Pharisees may have been in anticipation of the arrival of the long-promised Messiah or Christ, the King who would come to rule over God’s people. But why keep fasting and waiting, whenever Jesus is now here?

That’s why the disciples of Jesus aren’t fasting - the king has come! The reason to celebrate is here! The party has begun. This is why Christians love to sing, why we’re joyful, because we know the difference that Jesus has made in our lives, and is making in our lives. If you’d like to know that joy for yourself, if you’d like to experience it for the first time, or all over again, then I’d be delighted to help you afterwards.

But notice what Jesus goes on to say in verse 20. He’s said that the disciples rejoice because Jesus is with them. ‘But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.’ Jesus was with the disciples for three years, teaching them, leading them, but then came the time when he was taken from them - Jesus is referring there to his death on the cross. Already, in just chapter 2, Jesus knows that he is on his way to the cross, taken away from his disciples, indeed abandoned by them, to die to take away their sins. Jesus knew what lay ahead for him. He knew that the disciples would fast and mourn in those days. But they were just a few days, while Jesus lay in the tomb. You see, Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story. He rose to new life, resurrection life, he lives today, and continues to give us his joy.

So why don’t Jesus’ disciples fast? Because Jesus, the bridegroom is with them, they have a reason to feast and celebrate and rejoice! But Jesus then goes further, to show that he isn’t in the business of mending and making do and fixing up - rather he is in the business of making all things new.

And to show us how Jesus makes all things new, he uses two everyday examples. Look at verse 21: ‘No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.’

So imagine that you’ve got a favourite T-shirt. And you’ve worn it a lot because you like it. And eventually, it has a hole in it. What do you do? Well here’s what you wouldn’t do. You wouldn’t get some new fabric, which hasn’t been shrunk before, and make a patch. Why? Because whenever you wash it for the first time, and every time afterwards, the new patch will shrink, and make a bigger tear! Just patching it up with some new cloth isn’t going to work. The new will destroy the old.

Or think about the second example in verse 22: ‘And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.’

These days, you normally get wine in glass bottles. At least, that’s how the Communion wine comes. But in the time of the New Testament, wine came in wineskins - leather containers which held the wine. So if you had new wine, Jesus says you don’t put it in an old wineskin - the old wineskin had already been used, it had been stretched to the limit as the wine fermented in it, and it may have become brittle. To put new wine into an old wineskin would risk bursting the wineskin and losing the wine. The solution to the problem? New wine goes in new wineskins.

Do you see what the two stories are pointing us towards? The new patch will tear the old garment. The new wine will burst the old wineskin. In both case, the new material and the new wine are for new things. And the old is to be left behind, discarded.

So what is Jesus saying? He’s saying that the old religious system - the Jewish ceremonies and things like fasting - they’re like the old garment and the old wineskins. but they can’t contain or handle or cope with the newness that Jesus brings, the newness of God’s kingdom.

The Pharisees and even John’s disciples were fasting, as they waited for the Christ to come. But Jesus the Christ has come - and he doesn’t really fit into the old categories in the same way. Jesus isn’t in the business of patching up the old ways; he brings in something new - the new wine of the kingdom of God.

And that’s what Jesus wants to do in our lives as well. Jesus isn’t interested in helping you patch up your life as it is - just a wee bit of help every so often; just a patch that you put on for Sunday mornings; just a bit of minor fixing up a few wee bits of your life. It won’t work. He’s not interested in that!

Jesus wants to make you new. Not by tackling a new years resolution (if you’re still going with it by now). But by making you new. Clothed in a new garment. Made a new wineskin, for him to fill with his new wine - the joy of his kingdom. Imagine that - a fresh start, a new way of living, a new identity as a follower of Jesus, a child of God.

Jesus came into the world, he died on the cross, so that you can have this fresh start, and can experience the joy of knowing him. It’s why the disciples weren’t fasting, waiting for God’s kingdom to come - they were already living in it. And you can share in this joy today, as you trust in Jesus and are made new.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 27th January 2019.