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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sermon: Luke 10: 25-37 Who is my neighbour?

Actions:

Good - thumbs up ‘good, good’
Love - cross your heart ‘love love love’
Neighbour - shake hands ‘hello neighbour’
Priest - hands in air ‘hallelujah!’
Levite - hands together ‘hmm - praying meditation noise’
Samaritan - angry face ‘boo’

One day, a man asked Jesus what he had to do to get eternal life. How GOOD is GOOD enough? JEsus asked him what the Old Testament law said. 

To be GOOD enough for God, here’s what you need to do. You need to LOVE God with all of your heart - your feelings and emotions. You need to LOVE God with all your soul - your very being. You need to LOVE God with all your strength - in all you do. And you need to LOVE God with all your mind - in the thoughts you think. 

That means we are meant to always, fully and totally LOVE God with everything we are and have. And as if that’s not enough, we are also to LOVE our NEIGHBOUR as much as we LOVE ourselves. 

LOVE God and LOVE your neighbour. That’s the bar you have to reach to earn your own salvation - it’s like an impossibly high high jump bar. None of us can reach it. None of us can do it. 

But this man thought that he might be able to do it all by himself. And so he wants to check the terms and conditions - the small print of the agreement. So, wanting to justify himself, he asks Jesus a question. Just a small question. Four/five words: who is my NEIGHBOUR?

The man is thinking to himself that if your NEIGHBOUR is just the person who lives next door to you, then he might be able to LOVE that person. 

But Jesus answers his question by telling a story. It’s a story of a man who was on a journey. And on the way, he was attacked, beaten and robbed. He was sore, and left for dead. 

After a wee while, he heard someone coming along. He looked up, and saw that it was a PRIEST who was coming. Oh GOOD, the man thought. This PRIEST will help me. But, the PRIEST didn’t want to help. He pretended not to notice the man. He crossed the road, and walked past on the other side. The PRIEST was no help at all. 

Soon another person came along the road. He was a LEVITE, who also worked at the temple with the PRIEST. Surely he would do something GOOD to help him? But the LEVITE also pretended not to see him. He also crossed the road, and walked on by, just like the PRIEST. 

After a while, someone else was coming. But this man was a SAMARITAN. Now, the Jews didn’t like the SAMARITANS. The SAMARITANS were considered their enemies. Jews and SAMARITANS didn’t get on. He wouldn’t get any help from him. After all, the SAMARITANS couldn’t do any GOOD, they were such bad people. 

Yet the SAMARITAN stopped with the man. He had compassion on the man. He helped the man, by binding up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He brought the man to an inn, and paid for him to stay there and be looked after. This SAMARITAN did lots of GOOD for the beaten up man. 

Then Jesus asked this simple question. Think of the PRIEST, the LEVITE and the SAMARITAN. Which of them was a GOOD NEIGHBOUR to the man in need? It wasn’t the PRIEST. he ignored the man’s need. It wasn’t the LEVITE. he ignored the man’s need. The GOOD NEIGHBOUR was the SAMARITAN. (So I think we should stop boo-ing when we hear him mentioned...)

Even though the two men weren’t from the same country, or supported the same team, or liked the same things - the Samaritan was an example of a good neighbour. He helped whoever needed his help, whoever they were. 

So our neighbour isn’t just the person who lives next door. Our neighbour is everyone in the whole world. To be perfect, to earn our own salvation by ourselves, to be good enough to gain heaven - we would have to love God perfectly, and love everyone in the whole world. And that is impossible. We’ve already realised that today, and confessed our failures to God. We can’t do it ourselves. 

But Jesus did live this perfect life. He loved God with his heart, soul, strength and mind. He always perfectly obeyed his Father’s will. And he loved his neighbours as he loved himself. Who are Jesus’ neighbours? That’s everyone who ever lived. That’s you and me. And Jesus loved us perfectly, by laying down his life for us. 

Jesus is the Good Samaritan, because he had compassion on us. He gave himself for us in our need. He helped us by dying on the cross for us. 

We can’t do it by ourselves. But Jesus has done it for us. He has been our Good Samaritan, the one who loves you. And in response he calls us to love one another. To put others first. Even the people we don’t like and don’t get on with. And you might think - that’s still impossible! But when Jesus is your friend, when you follow him, he gives us his Holy Spirit to help us love God and love others. He makes us to become more like Jesus, who did love like this. It’s amazing love. It’s love that is so amazing that we ask: Amazing love how can it be that you my King would die for me?

This sermon was preached at the Love So Amazing family service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 18th February 2018.

Sermon: 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 6:2 Be Reconciled to God

Whenever we got married and moved into the Curate’s house in Dundonald, for the first week or so, all my post arrived through our door already opened and read. The postman was long gone, when letters addressed to me were put through the letterbox, having been opened. It took a wee while, but we worked out what was happening. We lived in number 6, but in number 2 lived a man called Gary Murray. The postman thought that my post should have been going to him, until we figured it out and got it sorted.

Gary Murray was getting the post for Gary McMurray. He was receiving word about our phone line being set up, and our electricity bill, but they weren’t for him - they were really for me. For a long time, I tried to do something similar with our passage in 2 Corinthians. I assumed that it was written for and to non-Christians, to get them to come to faith. If I had a Postman Pat outfit, I’d be putting it through their door. The gospel appeal is clear - be reconciled to God. But look at verse 20. ‘We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.’

Who was this actually addressed to? Whose door should it be put through? It comes as part of the whole letter of 2 Corinthians - Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth. The address label says that it’s for Christians. Now think about that for a moment. Paul is urging Christians to be reconciled to God! Why would he do that? Why would he need to do that? To see why Christians are being called to be reconciled to God, we need to take the passage as a whole.

Throughout 2 Corinthians, Paul is defending his ministry. The Corinthians were being influenced by some showy, super-spiritual superapostles. They were trying to move the church away from their roots, focusing on outward appearance and boasting. Paul sets out why he does what he does - sticking to the simple gospel message. And what is his motivation? It all comes down to the ‘love of Christ’ (14). ‘For the love of Christ controls us’. The love of Christ is the motivator for everything he does.

Jesus’ love for us led him to die for us, in our place, so that we share in his death. Through his death, we have died to ourselves. It confronts us with the question - who are you living for? Imagine that you were in great danger, perhaps you were drowning, but someone jumped in to rescue you. They died in the attempt, but you were saved. Would you get out of the water and forget about them? Could you continue on as before? Or would you give yourself to live for them? That’s what Jesus has done for us - how could we keep on living for our own concerns and wishes?

But more than that, Jesus didn’t just die for us, he was also raised for us. In his death and his resurrection, Jesus brings in the new creation. As we come to him, so we are made new creations - the old has gone, the new has come. The love of Jesus makes us new, and gives us a new agenda. This is the motivation of reconciliation - the reason Paul devoted his life to preaching the gospel, the reason he makes this appeal.

But this isn’t Paul’s idea. Rather, it’s God’s own ministry of reconciliation, which he calls us into. In Northern Ireland we hear quite a lot about reconciliation. It’s a word that’s bandied about, but what does it mean? It’s quite simply about coming together again; coming into relationship. Look at verse 18 to see how it works. God was reconciling us to himself. We are the guilty party, and God brings us back to himself. God begins the ministry of reconciliation, and when we are reconciled to him, he shares that ministry with us. It’s his work, but he gets us involved - like a father showing his son how to milk the cows or a mother teaching her daughter to crochet.

The ministry of reconciliation means that we become God’s ambassadors, his spokespeople, his agents. God gives us the words to say and we say them. So what is the message?

‘We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.’ Come back to him. Come to relationship with him. It’s the message the whole world needs to hear. It’s a great evangelistic message. This is something to share with your non-Christian friends and family and colleagues. As we come closer to Easter, you could invite them along to the ‘Cross words’ services to hear what the cross means for us.

But this message isn’t just for them. Sometimes in church we can think that the message is for someone else. But don’t post this in the wrong letterbox. This is for us as well. Christians need to hear this message. Rather than running after amazing signs and wonders or spectacular speech or mystical experiences, we can know the truth that we have been reconciled to God.

And it all comes in that message of verse 21. ‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ The Lord Jesus knew no sin. He never thought, said or did anything that was wrong. he never failed to do anything that was right. He was the very righteousness of God. Yet on the cross, Jesus was made to be sin. Every sinful thought, word and deed, he took it upon himself. God punished those sins in Jesus. He died the death we deserved. He bore the separation we should have undergone.

In taking away our sin, he gives us instead his righteousness. In Christ, we are found to be righteous - as if we had lived a perfect life. This is what is on offer in the message of reconciliation. When Paul says ‘Be reconciled’ there isn’t a checklist of stuff we have to do to impress God. There isn’t a threshold of goodness we have to reach. God has already done everything that is needed.

God has removed the barrier between us; he has removed the sin that separates us from him. Every last bit.

This is what is offered to the church in Corinth. You see, there’s a danger of receiving the grace of God in vain. We can embrace the message at the start, but then move on to something else, something which seems more impressive. The superapostles lead us astray with their wonders. But Paul gets to the heart of the message. He appeals to the Christians in Corinth, and he appeals to the Christians in Aghavea: ‘Be reconciled to God.’

Stop pretending. Stop playing at Christianity, and get real with God. Come back to marvel at the great exchange of the cross. Remember that through Jesus’ death and resurrection God has done everything to rebuild our relationship.

Perhaps you’re not a Christian today. This offer is open for you today. Though your sins separate you from God, you can be welcomed in. Discover that love of Christ which compels and controls us. Surrender to him today.

If you are a Christian, this is also for you. be reconciled. Come back to the God who loves you. And as you do, discover that he gives you this ministry of reconciliation, as we call each other to stay close to God. Today is our opportunity. Today is the day of salvation, before it is too late. ‘We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.’

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 22nd March 2015.

Sermon: 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 You've Lost That Loving Feeling

When we were much younger, we used to go visiting one of mum’s friends. As we walked from our house to theirs, there was a wee tiny shop beside the bridge. We couldn’t all have fitted in it. Each week, we would call in to the shop, and mum would buy sweets for my brother and me, and her friend’s four children. We each didn’t like the same sweets, so it was always a careful balancing act, to make sure that we all got roughly the same. Otherwise, the cry would have gone up: ‘It’s not fair!’

From an early age, it seems, children know all about fairness, especially when they themselves are on the wrong end of unfair treatment. One would be delighted if they got more sweets than another; the one who got less would be heartbroken. But it’s not something that you easily grow out of. If anything, the feelings of envy and boasting intensify - depending on which position you’re in.

Facebook is a great way of keeping in touch with friends (you can even stay updated on the church’s page). There are people I haven’t seen since leaving Primary School 24 years ago and High School 19 years ago, but every so often, a friend request appears and we are reconnected. It’s fascinating to see where some of them have ended up - America, Sweden, and also how things have been for them since we were knee high to a grasshopper.

Sometimes you get what is known as a ‘humblebrag’. It’s where they try to appear humble, but they’re really bragging. You can imagine... ‘Lying on this Californian beach is such a struggle day after day.’ ‘Having to pack up all our stuff as we move into a bigger mansion is such a drag.’ You get the idea. They sound humble, as if they’re disappointed, but they’re really going - look at me, how great things are going for me.

Boasting and envying are the two opposite reactions to success. For those who are achieving, boasting is the way to go. For those who aren’t, envy is the natural reaction. They both relate to how we relate to other people. And both are deadly when it comes to getting on together, especially in a local church.

As we’ve seen, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. It’s a messed up church, on so many levels, but one of the biggest problems is boasting. It seems to impact on just about everything that is happening in Corinth, and not in a good way either. In the opening chapters, Paul has had to deal with boasting about church leaders. You see, some people were following Paul, others Apollos, or Cephas (Peter). They were arguing about which one was the best preacher or the best pastor. They were focusing on shows of wisdom, but God’s gospel of Christ crucified cuts right through all that.

But they were also boasting about their spiritual gifts. Chapter 13 comes right in the middle of 12 and 14, where Paul is dealing with spiritual gifts. The Corinthians were taken by the showy gifts - things like speaking in tongues and prophecy, because they would get you noticed. So those who had them boasted, and those who didn’t envied.

How could Paul deal with this ragtag bunch of enviers and boasters? He brings them face to face with what love looks like, so that, as they look in the mirror, they realise how far short they have fallen. Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.

The disciples in Corinth needed to hear that. It’s the message we need to hear as well, as we live in community together as the body of Christ in this place. How do we know? Because the very first disciples of Jesus also needed to hear the same message.

In our first reading, James and John come up with a brainwave. They ask Jesus to grant them whatever they ask. They want to have the prime positions in the kingdom, on either side of Jesus in glory. Their desire is to be the top dogs, to be in close with Jesus. That would be something to aspire to. The boasting potential would be huge.

When the other ten hear it, ‘they began to be indignant with James and John.’ (41) They’re not just cross that these two asked for it, but they’re also cross that they didn’t think of it first! They’re all aiming to be most important - just as they argued along the way about who was the greatest.

Jesus turns things upside down. He shows them the way of love - not of aiming upwards, but of giving downwards. The rulers of the Gentiles might lord it over people, but in the kingdom, things are different. ‘whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.’ (43-44) It’s not what they wanted to hear. It’s not what we want to hear either. But it is the way of Jesus. He came, not boasting because of who he was, but demonstrating his servant kingness.

In Mark 10, they are on the way up to Jerusalem, but when we flick over to John 13, it seems that Jesus’ message hasn’t been heard by the disciples. [Have you ever noticed that sometimes we need to hear something a few times for it to make an impact on us?]

It’s now the Passover. It’s the very night that Jesus will be arrested. He will be crucified the next day. The twelve are with him around the table, and there’s an awkward silence. In the upper room, there doesn’t appear to be a servant. No one to wash the feet of the guests. It’s the role of the lowest slave. No one moves. Everyone waits for someone else to do it.

The awkwardness grows as Jesus himself makes the move. He takes off his outer garments and wraps a towel around his waist. He pours the water. He kneels and washes their feet. It’s unthinkable! But this is the expression of his love. Look at verse 3. Jesus knows who he is. He knows his position - and he rose from supper. He was the only one in the room who could have boasted, but he instead follows the way of love, because he is love. He loved them to the end (2) or, as the NIV puts it, he showed them the full extent of his love.

Jesus on his knees washing the disciples’ feet is the opposite of the boastful, envious Corinthians. They strive for power and prestige and prominence; he puts on a towel and serves lovingly. He calls us to follow his example - of self-giving for the good of others.

What are the areas of our life where we are tempted to boast? What do we glory in? What is it we are envious of others? What has become the idol that someone else has that we desperately want?

Love recognises that everything we have is a gift. We don’t deserve it; we can’t earn it; we shouldn’t keep it to ourselves.

This sermon was preached in the 'A Portrait of Love' Lent series in Aghavea Parish Church on Wednesday 19th March 2014.

Sermon: 1 Corinthians 13:4 The Power of Love

Love is patient and kind. In those five simple words, the apostle Paul gets to the heart of what love is all about. It shows us what love is like, and exposes our impatient and unkind hearts.

You see, patience and kindness are the types of categories that we naturally like to put ourselves into. Am I patient towards other people? Yes! Am I always kind towards other people? Of course! Yet I wonder if that’s how other people would also describe us, based on our words and our deeds, the things they can observe? And what if they could see our hearts, read our minds, hear our thoughts? Even our best actions can be done with an unloving attitude - as we saw last week.

I don’t know about you, but perhaps the best place to observe my impatience and unkindess is when I get behind the wheel. What is it about driving that causes tempers to rise and sanctification to go out the window? Whether it’s the driver toddling along (especially when you’re running late); the lack of indication; the poor road positioning; the dangerous overtaking; the not quite knowing where they’re going; the taking up two parking spaces; the sitting on my back bumper while driving at speed; or whatever, driving seems to be bad for your spiritual health. And all that just happened today!

It’s so easy to get annoyed, to flash the lights or toot the horn - having first checked that it isn’t a parishioner and that I’m not wearing my dog collar... When Paul writes that love is patient and kind, it’s as if he has been sitting beside me, needing to remind me.

Maybe driving isn’t your danger zone. Perhaps you’re thinking that you’re in the clear on that front. The same kind of conviction might be going on in your heart based on some other part of your life. Who is it in your life who you are impatient with? Who can you not cope with, and if you see them coming, you want to run and hide? Who have you not been kind with? Who has been on the receiving end of your unkindness?

If you noticed the little question for reflection as we began, you were invited to think of when someone was kind to you. These moments can sometimes be so rare that they stand out in the memory, an act of kindness which turns your day around.

Last week as we began our series, we looked at how the church in Corinth was in serious trouble. There were numerous divisions within the church, as people fell out over all sorts of issues. The biggest issue, though, was about their worship and the use of spiritual gifts.

Some people thought that they were more spiritual than others, and that was why they could speak in tongues or speak out prophecy. They looked down on people with the ‘other’ gift; and both looked down on anyone without either gift. When they came together for church, they wanted to be the star of the show. They wanted to make sure that they would be heard; that their preferences would be catered for. They had no time at all for anyone else. They couldn’t be bothered with anyone who was different to them.

This is why the ‘love chapter’ was written. It’s not so that the Corinthians could think, what a great job I’m doing. They couldn’t have thought that Paul was describing them. These words are a rebuke - love is patient and kind, and you and we are not.

Have you ever had the moment where you think your car isn’t too bad; it looks clean enough; until you park next to a car that has just been valeted and cleaned and sparkles? Your car is suddenly shown up for what it is. It’s often only when we see what something should be like that we realise how far short we’ve fallen.

This is why Paul writes these words - love is patient and kind. If we were to try to substitute our name for the word ‘love’ we’d realise that it just doesn’t sound right. But it’s perfectly true if we put Jesus’ name in there. Jesus is patient and kind. And we see this in our second reading as Paul writes to Titus.

Titus is on the island of Crete. He’s been given the job of appointing church leaders and teaching the church there how right teaching should lead to right living. In chapter 3, Paul writes of how we all once were - foolish, disobedient, slaves to passions and pleasures, in malice and envy, hated and hating. It’s a bleak picture, but it explains the way the world is.

But into this impatient and unkind world, comes something entirely different and ‘out of this world.’ ‘But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.’

We are not kind, we are not good. We aren’t saved by anything that we have done, because there is nothing good that we have done. We can’t earn it; we can’t achieve it. But the kindness and goodness of God has appeared - has become visible - as Jesus was born into the world and showed us what kindness and goodness looks like. We are saved, not by our goodness, but because of his mercy. We don’t deserve it, but we receive it, as an unmerited gift.

That he would give up his place in glory and step into this world; that he would give his life to die on the cross for us and for our sins; this is the ultimate kindness. And it wasn’t just a momentary thing - it wasn’t that Jesus just had to be kind for a moment, as if you’re just letting someone across the road or out of a junction. Every moment of his life, every decision, every word, every thought was always and only kind. That’s why Paul actually describes Jesus as ‘the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour’.

When we realise the kindness of God towards us and begin to see the height and length and breadth and depth of his love for us, it should change our hearts and our attitude to others. We receive God’s love in order to be more loving. To discover the patience and kindness of God should begin to stir in us the growth of patience and kindness. We can’t work it up ourselves, but as the God of love lives in us, we become more like him. And slowly, over time, we’ll realise that we are becoming more patient and more kind, because they are the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5).

For the Corinthians, this wasn’t just a life coaching session; this wasn’t personal therapy to improve your own mood and wellbeing. This is God’s word to the church as the gathered people of God. Love is patient and kind, as you deal with very different personalities and preferences in the church body. There may not always be things you like, or people you like, but love calls us to be patient with them, indeed, to be kind to them.

Are there people that you find difficult? Pray for them. Ask God to help you be patient and kind to them, just as he has been to you. Together, we can grow as we each become more like Jesus and reflect his mercy and grace.

This sermon was preached in the 'A Portrait of Love' series of Midweek Lent services in Aghavea Parish Church on Wednesday 12th March 2014.

Sermon: What's love got to do with it? (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

When we come to 1 Corinthians 13, we’re on familiar ground or so we think. It’s a Bible passage that we’ve probably heard lots of times before. It’s read at weddings. It’s read at funerals - among them that of Princess Diana. And once we hear the opening words, ‘If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels...’ we know that we’re in the love chapter. You may have a particular memory or some emotional resonance as we revisit Paul’s words.

But just as a paratrooper has to find his bearings when he parachutes into even familiar territory, so we need to work out where we are in this letter of Paul to the Corinthians. We haven’t worked our way through it, instead we’ve landed in the middle of the letter. To understand our chapter, we need to see it in the context of the letter.

If you’ve ever read through 1 Corinthians, you’ll know that the church in Corinth was in a mess. And I don’t mean that their meeting place was a bit dusty or a bit through-other. The church was in a mess, with divisions, and quarrelling - about which leader was the best, and who the different factions were following. They were big on boasting, and thought that they were super spiritual. Yet there were problems with taking one another to court and ignoring (and celebrating) sexual immorality within the church. Their communion services were chaotic; and they were seriously split on the issue of spiritual gifts.

It’s into this church context that Paul writes his letter, answering some of their questions and trying to sort out some of the false teaching and dodgy practices that were going on. It’s not that Paul was writing and then thought to himself - oh, I’ve got to chapter 13, I’d better write something to give a warm fuzzy feeling when it’s read out at weddings. In fact, he’s not even thinking about the love between a man and a woman in marriage.

Chapter 13 comes in between chapters 12 and 14. I know that’s not new - 13 always comes between 12 and 14. But chapter 13 is like the burger in the bap as Paul addresses the issue of spiritual gifts. You see, the Corinthians were caught up in the desire to have the showy, spectacular, upfront spiritual gifts - speaking in tongues and prophecy - so that everyone else would look at them and honour them. The Corinthians were all about ‘look at me!’
Paul writes about love here because love is the thing that has been lacking in the Corinthian church. When this chapter was read out for the very first time, they weren’t getting warm fuzzies. They were hearing the rebuke of the apostle Paul, calling them to return to the way of love, rather than the way of selfish showy spiritual gifts.

On A Question of Sport they have the round: what happens next? They show a clip and you have to guess what happens next. As the chapter is begun, how do you think the Corinthians would have filled in the blank? ‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels...’ well done? I wish I was like you? Way to go, everyone else should respect you?

‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.’ ding ding ding ding ding ding. There’s a lot of noise, but no love. Well maybe he’ll think better of those with prophetic powers, or faith to move mountains? All worthless. All pointless. Give away everything (in order to look good) - you’ll gain nothing.

Even these first verses this evening are a bit of a shock to us, aren’t they? We might not rate speaking in tongues, but put in there the thing that you value; the thing that you think most important; the unique contribution that you do in this church family. And Paul says that that thing, that gift, no matter how important, if it doesn’t come from a heart of love, is pointless. It might look good on the surface, but the motivation is what is key.

Paul is calling them, and us, to get back to love. It is, as he says at the very end of chapter 12. ‘a still more excellent way’. As the chapter goes on, there’s another way of filling in the blanks. Love is... but am I patient and kind? We realise how far short we fall. We realise that we aren’t like this. Yet the good news is that Paul is pointing us to a portrait of love. He’s showing us what we could be like by pointing us to the one who was like this. The One who is patient and kind, the One who is love.

Each week, as we consider what love is like, we’ll see what Jesus is like. You see, Jesus was asked what love for neighbour is all about. The lawyer had asked the question - what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Between them, they agree that the summary of the whole Law is this: love God and love your neighbour as yourself. That’s it - do this and you’ll live.

The lawyer thinks he’s in with a chance of doing this. After all, if you only have to love God and love your neighbour, and if your neighbour is only the people who live on either side of you, and you get on reasonably well with Mr and Mrs Smith in 24 and Mr and Mrs Jones in 28, then you might just be able to work your own way into heaven. So he risks the question, ‘desiring to justify himself’ (29) ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Who is it I have to love? How far do I need to go?

Jesus tells the famous story about the man going along from Jerusalem to Jericho. He’s robbed, stripped, beaten, and left for dead. But he’s in luck. A priest is coming along the road. Surely he’ll help him? But no, the priest hurries on. Next, along comes a Levite. He also helps in the temple, he’s also religious, perhaps he’ll help. But no, the Levite hurries on. The priest and the Levite were both out for themselves, not worrying about one of their own in need.

Along comes a Samaritan. He’s different, in all sorts of ways. He is the enemy. He’s hated. But he’s also different, because he has compassion on the man. Binds up his wounds. Pours on oil and wine. Brings him to an inn. Cares for him. Pays for all he’ll need to get back to health.

So which of the three was a neighbour to the man? It’s not a hard question, but the answer may well have stuck in the lawyer’s throat. We have a picture of love, of mercy and compassion. The man put others ahead of himself, loved and cared for him, and put himself out to help.

This is the standard of love we’re called to - to love God with everything we are and have; and to love our neighbour to the same extent that we love ourselves. Do it and live? It doesn’t take long before we realise it’s impossible. We simply don’t love others or God the way we love ourselves and put ourselves first.

But the Lord Jesus has come along, entered our world, and demonstrated his love to us. He perfectly loved God and loved us, as he gave all he had to care for us, to bind our wounds (by being wounded himself), and bring us, not to an inn, but to his own home forever.

His love should change our love. We can’t live for ourselves alone any more. The church cannot be a place where we bang our own clanging cymbals and point to ourselves. Instead, we’re called to belong and to build up. What’s love got to do with it? Everything, because without love, we are nothing. As we see Jesus’ love, so may we grow in love for him, and for one another. Amen.

This sermon was preached as the first in the series 'A Portrait of Love' on Ash Wednesday 5th March 2014 in Aghavea Parish Church.

Sermon: Luke 7: 36-50 Simon, the Sinful Woman and the Saviour

I wonder does anyone recognise the TV theme tune? [Play the 'Come Dine With Me' theme tune]

On Come Dine With Me, contestants take it in turns to host a dinner party for some strangers. They are then scored in secret, with the highest score at the end of the week winning £1000. The scores are for their food, entertainment, hosting skills, and general feeling of how the evening went.

Today in our Bible reading, Jesus is at a dinner party. He's been invited to go to someone's house for a meal. So we need a host: Simon. Simon is a Pharisee. He's really religious, he wants to make sure that he keeps all the Old Testament law; he's sure that he's better than everyone else, because no one else is so observant as he is. He thinks he is good. In fact, he thinks he is perfect. [Give a halo and an angel costume - my surplice].

So Simon is hosting his dinner party. Jesus is at the table. When suddenly someone comes into the house. An unexpected, uninvited guest. Someone who doesn't belong. Someone Simon knows well, because she is described as 'a woman who had lived a sinful life.' She is the opposite of Simon. She's well known as a sinner, and Simon doesn't like her.

Now as if that wasn't bad enough that she comes into his house, what she does next is even worse. She gets down at Jesus' feet, she starts crying, and wetting his feet with her tears. She dries his feet with her hair. She gets a bottle of perfume and pours it on his feet. She kisses his feet. What a scene! And all this is going on in the Pharisee's house. The respectable, good, upstanding Pharisee's house.

Imagine you were Simon. How would you feel? Would you be cross? We don't have to imagine what he's thinking as Luke tells us. He says to himself that if Jesus was really a prophet he would know who she was and what type of woman she is: a sinner.

Simon looks at the woman and declares that she is a sinner. He's obviously thinking that he himself is not a sinner. Just this really bad woman - she is the sinner.

Just with that, Jesus tells him a story. It's about two people who owe debts. Have you ever seen or used an 'IOU' note? It's where you borrow money and leave a little note saying I Owe You. Well, these two people in Jesus' story have IOUs. The first owes 50 denarii [a big IOU 50d written on an A4 bit of card, held up]. That's a lot. The second owes even more - 500 denarii [an even bigger IOU 500d written on an A3 piece of card]. Now what are these denarii? When I pull out the money in my pocket, what are these? Pence. So how much are we talking? A denarius was the amount of money a labourer earned for a day's wage. So in today's money, the first owes £2500 and the second owes £25000 [with matching IOUs in pound sterling].

Now, can you afford to pay back your little debt? Or your big debt? Neither of you can pay. You'll end up in prison or in slavery. That doesn't sound good. But what about if your debts were cancelled? [Rip up the pieces of card] What would you think of that? You'd be happy, glad, rejoicing. Now which of them would be the happiest? The one who owed the more. They would be the happiest, and would love the most. The debt cancelled brings love.

Imagine that you're having someone come for dinner. What might you do to welcome them? You might shake their hand or give them a hug. You might take their coat and hang it up. You might show them to the bathroom to refresh themselves.

In Simon's Come Dine With Me, let's see how he scores: In Jesus' day there were no boots or shoes, just sandals on dusty roads. Your feet got all dirty. Simon doesn't give Jesus any water to wash his feet. How does he score? [The children and some of the adults got score cards with either 0 or 10]. He gets a zero. But what about the woman? She uses her tears to wash his feet. She scores a 10. What about the greeting when entering the house? In those days it was usual to kiss your guest on the cheek, but Simon didn't bother. How would we score? 0. What about the woman? She kissed Jesus' feet, and scores a 10. You would normally have oil to refresh you guest, give them a face wash, but again, Simon didn't bother. He gets 0. The woman? She poured her perfume on Jesus' feet. Another 10.

Simon is a really bad host. He doesn't show any care or love for Jesus. If it was CDWM he would get 0. But the woman, this really bad woman, she scores a perfect 10. Jesus commends her. She is showing love because she has been forgiven her huge debt. She knew she was a sinner, but she has also experienced God's forgiveness, and so pours out her love in response and gratitude.

Simon, he doesn't think he owes anything. He doesn't realise that he too is a sinner. He thinks his debt isn't as big or as bad as the woman's. You see, we can often compare ourselves to other people and think that we're not too bad after all. We're not as bad as him or her. But compared to Jesus, the perfect man, we fall far short.

We each owe a debt to God, a debt we cannot pay. All of us are sinners. We might think we're good, but we're not. We need to come to Jesus, and find that he has paid our debt. He has cancelled our debt by dying to save us from our sins. We can find in Jesus the relief of debts cleared and sins forgiven.

The woman knew that forgiveness and shows her love for Jesus. Her costly devotion to him, bowing at his feet.

It was Valentine's Day on Friday, but how do we show our love for Jesus? It begins by hearing those words: 'Your sins are forgiven.' When our debt is cleared, we are free to love and serve and follow Jesus. Let's pray that each of us will know the love of God in Jesus for us, and respond in love for him.

This sermon was preached at the Church Family Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 16th February 2014.

Book Review: Loving The Way Jesus Loves

You've heard 1 Corinthians 13 read lots of times - at weddings, in church services, private devotions, Bible study groups, and a variety of other situations. You think you know what it's all about. Think again. In Loving The Way Jesus Loves, Phil Ryken explores the Bible's famous love chapter in a new way, relating each clause and phrase explicitly to the person, life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The result is a great book that will both challenge and warm your heart as you see the love of Jesus, and seek to share that love with others around you.

Early on, Ryken makes the point that 'As familiar as it is, this chapter is not understood nearly as well as it ought to be. For one thing, people usually read it out of context.' Indeed, 'when Paul wrote about love in chapter 13, he was not trying to give people something nice to read at weddings.' The context is the letter to the Corinthians, and their loveless pride of specific spiritual gifts. As he goes on to say, 'The only way for us to become more loving is to have more of the love of Jesus.'

Ryken then works through the chapter - not in a continuous basis, but rather chopping and changing it up to follow the chronology of Jesus' life, as he links it to the key events. Each phrase, each element of love, is illustrated by an incident from the gospels, which mostly succeeds to demonstrate the way in which Jesus loves and our deficiency of love. There were one or two that I wouldn't have chosen as the example, but he makes a strong case for each one.

The author has written many books, and has a good turn of phrase in communicating the truth. Here's just one sample: 'We are nothing without love, but Jesus does nothing without love.' Or again, 'First the apostle tells us what he cannot do without love; then he tells us what only love can do.'

My advice would be to get the book and take a chapter per week, to think through the implications of our lovelessness, Jesus' love for us, and how we can then follow and share his love. Loving the Way Jesus Loves is available from Amazon, IVP (ebook) and for the Kindle.

Sermon Audio: John 3:16

On Sunday morning we took a break from our 1 Peter series to look at God the Giver as it was the church's Gift Day. Here's how it sounded.

Book Review: Crazy Love

Crazy Love is an impassioned plea to the church to step up to the mark. Pastor Francis Chan identifies that something isn't right in the way we live and love and do church. The answer? Crazy Love.

Early on, Chan presents the problem:

'We all know something's wrong. At first I thought it was just me. Then I stood before twenty thousand Christian college students and asked, "How many of you have read the New Testament and wondered if we in the church are missing it?" When almost every hand went up, I felt comforted. At least I'm not crazy.' (p. 17)

What is it we're missing?

'I get nervous when I think of how we've missed who we are supposed to be, and sad when I think about how we're missing out on all that God wants for the people He loved enough to die for.' (p. 18)

'This book is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. It if for those who don't want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do.' (p. 19)

'The core problem isn't the fact that we're lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He's great and deserves to be the center of our lives.' (p. 20)

The answer?

'I believe He wants us to love others so much that we go to extremes to help them. I believe He wants us to be known for giving - of our time, our money, and our abilities - and to start a movement of "giving" churches. In so doing, we can alleviate the suffering in the world and change the reputation of His bride in America. Some people, even at my church, have told me flat-out, "You're crazy." But I can't imagine devoting my life to a greater vision.' (p. 19)

Chan directs us to consider God's greatness and power displayed in creation - all for his glory. 'The appropriate way to end this chapter is the same way we began it - by standing in awed silence before a mighty, fearsome God, whose tremendous worth becomes even more apparent as we see our own puny selves in comparison.' (p. 36)

Our common behaviours of worry and stress 'communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional.' (p. 40). His analysis of the human condition at this point is penetrating and hard-hitting. The remedy is to turn around: 'The point of your life is to point to Him.' ((p. 42) Again, 'we need to stop living selfish lives, forgetful of our God.' (p. 49)

Very briefly, Chan points out the love of God: 'I don't think I'm the only person who has misunderstood God's love. Most of us, to some degree, have a difficult time understanding, believing, or accepting God's absolute and unlimited love for us.' (p. 51) However, it seems that he doesn't take much time or effort to spell out that love for us; there is no mention of the cross as the display of God's love; he very quickly jumps to our love for God. But our love is only ever as a response to God's love for us - so if there's no explicit foundation of God's love laid down, then we can't really properly respond - it's as if our feelings are being manufactured or cajoled, rather than flowing naturally from a warmed up heart as we see the objective display of love in the cross of the Lord Jesus.

The remainder of the book then concentrates on our love for God - an important theme, certainly, but again, without the proper sequence of our response to His love. 'There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness, and even kindness.' (p. 128) 'So within this command to love God... every fiber of humanity is addressed. our goal as people who follow Christ should be no less than becoming people who are madly in love with God.' (p. 140)

Chan's desire is for the reader to be changed as a result of reading the book. To no longer be complacent, comfortable in the regular routine: 'What I can say is that you must learn to listen to and obey God, especially in a society where it's easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.' (p. 166) His closing paragraph is a stirring call to action:

'Now close this book. Get on your knees before our holy, loving God. And then live the life with your family, parents, spouse, children, neighbors, enemies, and strangers that He has created and empowered you through the Holy Spirit to live.' (p. 172) [It should also be noted that this book nicely sets up for his next book, Forgotten God, on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.]

One of the most helpful chapters was a series of profiles of ordinary people who are living this 'crazy love' kind of life, loving and serving in extraordinary ways.

It's a book for the young, media savvy, web generation - at one point early on, the reader is directed to stop reading and go and watch a video online. Perhaps that video filled in the bits I thought were lacking in the book, but as I was halfway across the world with no internet, I didn't watch the video.

All in all, the thing I'll take away from the book is Chan's passion for us to be awakened to love. However without the adequate exposition of God's love for us as the basis of our love, the call may just be a little crazy.

Sermon: Ephesians 5: 21-33 Love and Marriage

I have a confession to make. This might be the most difficult sermon to preach of my nine and a bit months here so far. You see, we’re looking today at marriage, and some of you might be sitting thinking to yourself - what does he know - he’s only been married for almost four years, compared to our twenty, thirty, fifty years together.

It would be much easier for me to skip this section and move on to something a bit easier to talk about - the armour of God in chapter 6. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! You see, the sermon isn’t a chance for you to catch up on some sleep; but at the same time, it isn’t for me to stand up and rant on for fifteen minutes on a subject of my choosing.

We gather to hear God’s word read and proclaimed - it’s God setting the agenda, not me. It’s the reason we take books of the Bible and work through them from start to finish - right now, we’re working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and marriage is the next topic he addresses. So you’re not just getting what I think of marriage - rather together we want to hear what God thinks of marriage, and what that will mean for our relationships.

The first thing to note is that God thinks marriage is a good idea. We saw that in our first reading from Genesis 2. God is the first matchmaker, forming Adam and then Eve, and bringing them together. Before the fall, before sin came into the world, marriage existed - one man, one woman, coming together to form one flesh, a permanent, public, life-long commitment.

When we were clearing out granny’s house, we came across old wedding photos. The black and white photos of granny and granda McMurray, looking radiant on their wedding day. It’s as if Paul pulls out the wedding picture of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and then he says that marriage itself - every marriage from Adam and Eve down to today - marriage is a like a signpost pointing towards the wedding banquet, the big wedding.

Not just the wedding of the year; not even the wedding of the century or millennium, but THE royal wedding. Look with me at verse 32. ‘This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.’ Marriage has always been a signpost pointing to the great wedding feast in heaven when Christ and the church are united forever.

We’ve received a couple of wedding invitations for the summer - friends getting married. As they do that, it’s like the trailer for the film; a foretaste of the real thing. Their weddings will be like a picture of Jesus and the church. But so will their ongoing marriages. So many couples invest so much in their wedding day without really thinking about what comes next - the ongoing commitment in all the years that follow until death us do part.

So what will it mean for our marriages to point towards the union of Christ and his church? What should it look like if our marriage is a picture of Christ and the church? It’s like so many pictures (at least the ones I take) - so often it’s out of focus; it’s a bit blurry; it doesn’t really show it in all its glory. We need to focus again on the original, so that we can copy the pattern.

Firstly, Paul addresses the wives. ‘Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.’ In other versions the word used is submit - to ‘obey’ your husband. Now it might be that you immediately raise all sorts of objections; you might think that we’re just out to get you and control you; that it’s a power game; or that Paul hated women. But remember the pattern - ‘For the husband is head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Saviour.’

Christ is the head of the church - he leads it, and rules over it. In the same way, Paul says, the husband is to be the head in the household - not to dominate or to be a tyrant, but simply in order to provide a lead. (I remember hearing one woman say that her husband was the head of the household and then mutter under her breath that she was the neck that moved the head!).

It’s not easy to submit, but before the women start a revolution, let’s see what Paul says to the husbands. Now at first sight it might seem as if the men get off lightly - ‘husbands, love your wives.’ And the women might be thinking, well, is that it? We have to submit and they just have to love? But look at the standard of love they have to live up to. Remember again the pattern that our marriages follow, as they point to the royal wedding:

‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.’ Now how did Christ love the church? Did he issue commands and demands all day and just be waited on hand and foot? Not at all - he came not to be served but to serve; he loved the church so much that he ‘gave himself up for her.’

Rather than men having it easy, they are called to die for their wives, to give themselves for her. To provide and nourish and tenderly care for her. It’s not that the husband’s will is there to be obeyed, no matter what the wife thinks. Rather, the husband is to pattern himself on the Lord Jesus, leading by serving and giving himself in love for his wife. Men, are you?

Wouldn’t it be so much easier to submit to a loving, giving serving type of husband? Just as the church submits to her loving, giving, serving (and saving) Lord. Marriage is another place for our salvation to be worked out; it’s one of the venues for practical Christianity - real life, and not just theory.

In so many marriages, the wife would never think of submitting because it wouldn’t be safe to - her husband would immediately take advantage. When two sinful and selfish people come together in marriage, there are going to be ructions - always trying to gain the upper hand and control the other. It’s like the out of focus photo - you might just be able to make out that it’s a bride and groom, but that’s about all. As Christians, though, doing marriage in the way Paul describes here; each giving themselves to the other; putting the other first; together looking outward to love and serve; in this marriage the focus on the camera is corrected, the picture becomes clearer, sharper - the picture of the union of Jesus and his bride the church. That royal wedding that will continue throughout eternity which will never come to an end.

For those in marriage, the application should be clear - how does your life together point to our salvation? Are there things you need to work on?

But for those who aren’t currently married, you might be thinking, well, that was a waste of coming to church. That wasn’t for me at all. But perhaps you’ll be married some day - how are you preparing even now, maybe even before you have met your husband or wife to be. Are you cultivating these habits of giving and serving; or just being selfish? Perhaps you give thanks for your own marriage which has finished - how can you be helping others in their marriage? Could you be praying for the young couples preparing for weddings? A listening ear for problems?

Married or not, each of us are invited to the great Royal wedding, not just as spectators, not even just as guests, but as part of the bride. The King has proposed, the wedding date is set. Our earthly marriages are pictures (albeit imperfect) of that great wedding. As we gather at the Lord’s table, we have the foretaste of the great feast. Will you accept? Will you say I do?

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 10th June 2012.

Sermon Audio: John 21: 1-25

On Sunday morning, as we finished the post-resurrection appearances from John's Gospel, we listened in as Jesus asks Peter: Do you love me? What will it mean for us to love Jesus?

Sermon: John 21: 1-25 Do You Love Me?

What do buying flowers, giving a back rub, writing a song; making a meal, little surprises, and surrendering the remote control all got in common? They’re just a few of the ways that people may demonstrate their love for their partner, according to a leading website. Some of them may seem silly, but we’re told it’s the thought that counts. Actions can speak louder than words.

In our reading this morning, as we come to the end of John’s gospel, we find Jesus asking Peter ‘Do you love me?’ As we look at Peter, we find that same question coming to each one of us - ‘Do you love me?’ What will it mean for us to love Jesus?

The setting is in Galilee, the place where it all began; where Peter first met Jesus, where Jesus had called him to follow him. That was three years before, and a lot has happened since then. Peter was Peter, making those brash claims, speaking before his brain was in gear; just as the night Peter said that he would die with Jesus, even if all the other disciples fell away. That very night, in the courtyard of the high priest, by the warmth of a charcoal fire, Peter had faltered, denying that he knew Jesus three times. Jesus died, was raised, but the disciples go back to their old life, fishing.

Just like another time, Peter catches nothing, when a stranger on the shore tells them to cast out on the right hand side. Suddenly, the nets can’t cope, and John realises that it’s the Lord. Peter jumps into the water and swims to be with Jesus. There, he finds a beach barbecue, cooked on a charcoal fire. When they’ve eaten, Jesus asks Peter the question, only he uses Peter’s original name: Simon: ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ Do you love me more than these other disciples love me? You’ve previously claimed as much, what about now.

Gone is the brash boldness, the overconfidence. Instead, the reply is a simple ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Now no comparison with others; no over the top statements, just a simple yes, you know I love you. Three times, Jesus asks the question, and three times Peter answers in the same way (with an addition on the third occasion) - You know that I love you.

Jesus restores Peter following his public denials, the question coming each time giving the opportunity to reverse the desperate denial and express his love for the Lord. Isn’t there great comfort here for the believer, the grace given in restoration, sins forgiven, through the love of the Lord.

Now if you were listening closely, or if you’ve got the text open in front of you, you’ll notice that there is something else said to Peter each time, and here we see what it means to love the Lord. You see, to love the Lord is to live and die for his glory.

Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes Lord, you know that I love you. Do you see what comes next? ‘Feed my lambs... Tend my sheep... Feed my sheep.’ Peter is given a job to do, a task to complete - he is called to live for the glory of the Lord by serving the Lord’s people. Remember where he is - sitting on the shore of Lake Galilee, having returned to his former way of life, back to fishing again.

Just as that call came before to leave his nets and become a fisher of men, so now he is called to leave the boat and become an under-shepherd to the good shepherd. To feed and tend ‘my’ sheep. To feed the lambs and sheep, to give them what will give them life and health and strength; to tend and care for the sheep - the people of God.

For Peter, he demonstrated his love for the Lord by living for the glory of the Lord, loving the Lord and his people, and serving them. While you may not be a pastor, the call for all of us is to love the Lord and his people, serving them in the ways the Lord shows you, using the gifts he has given you. It could be in hospitality, teaching, prayer, encouragement, counselling, helping in practical ways, music, giving, or any number of ways. What is it that the Lord is saying to you, as you answer his question: ‘Do you love me?’ How will you demonstrate your love for him?

So far it’s all good, all straightforward, isn’t it? To love the Lord is to live for his glory. But we may never have imagined what comes next. In fact, we may not want to think about what comes next. To love the Lord is to live for his glory, and die for his glory.

Verse 18: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.’ Up to now, this may even just appear to be reflecting the signs of growing old, which some of us are finding every day - no longer able to do some of the things we loved doing, not being able to dress ourselves, being helped and taken about, losing independence.

But John’s comment puts it all into perspective, helps us see what Jesus is actually saying to Peter. ‘This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.’ Standing before Peter the apostle, years later, lies the cross, where he too will be martyred, executed by Nero. Alongside the call to live for God’s glory is the call to die for God’s glory. Respectfully, and seriously, I ask, will you die well?

You see, we may not face the death of martyrdom (which thousands of our brothers and sisters will face), yet how we die can display our love for the Lord. So you see, the call of the risen Lord is the same call from before, when he calls us to take up our cross and follow him, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, in the hard times as well as the good, ready to glorify God in our death as much as in our life.

The call goes out, not just to Peter, but to all the church, and all of us individually - to love the Lord and live and die for his glory. With Peter, the way he did that was by leading the early church and dying at the hands of Nero. But Peter slips into a mistake that each of us can so easily fall into. Not content to faithfully follow and get on with what he has been called to do, we see in verse 20 that he wants to know about John, the disciples whom Jesus loved. ‘Lord, what about this man?’ I may be called to die by stretching out my hands on a cross - what about him?

You might look at someone else and think, well, I’ve got it tough compared to Mrs Jones - what about her? And Jesus, as graciously as ever, tells Peter to mind his own business: ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!’ So while Peter’s death is certain, what would it matter to Peter if John is going to remain alive until Jesus returns? Peter’s concern is to follow Jesus, not worry about John’s future.

If I can slightly paraphrase Hebrews 12 here: ‘let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (each one of us individually), looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.’ (Heb 12: 1)

By the time John is writing, Peter has indeed been martyred, and the rumour is circulating that Jesus said this about John. Now imagine that John is nearing death, and Jesus still hasn’t appeared. John reminds us that Jesus didn’t make any such promise. Just as Peter glorified Jesus by his martyrdom, so John will glorify Jesus through living to a grand old age, dying peacefully in his bed. It’s not about being jealous of another’s walk, it’s about encouraging one another in the path set before us by our Lord.

That question Jesus asked Peter echoes down through the years so that we’re confronted with it this evening: Do you love me? The precise ways in which we demonstrate our love will be different for each of us, but the overall summary still stands: Love for Jesus is shown in living for his glory (by serving his people) and dying for his glory.

At the end of verse 19, we hear those two words Peter had previously heard in the same place, when it had all began. Now he has been restored by the love of the Lord demonstrated in the cross, and is sent to demonstrate his love for the Lord by living and dying for his glory. And those words sound out for us as well. Jesus says: ‘Follow me.’

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 6th May 2012.

Looking For Love on Valentines Day?

Are you looking for love this Valentines Day? Lost without a lover? Struggling with singleness? Searching for someone to love you, just as you are?

It's a great day to reflect on the love of God for you, as demonstrated in the cross.



In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9-11)

Sermon: Mark 12: 28-34 Total Love

The TV is packed with the same sort of programme, week after week, and particularly at holiday times. The top 50 movie moments; the top 100 funniest comedians; the top 10 goals of the season. The list goes on and on. Fairly cheap to make, with a few celebrities interviewed, and lots of clips. Perhaps there’s been a public vote; the results are likely to generate lots of debate.

In the Judaism of Jesus’ day, there was just as intense a debate going on, but it wasn’t about the world’s greatest pop star (Beyonce), or the greatest family film (ET). Rather, the question being debated was the one which is asked in our reading this morning. ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Out of all the commands in the Old Testament, which is the most important?

Someone had worked out that there were 613 commands in the Old Testament Law. That’s a huge number - but which was the most important to obey? Which was the one to concentrate on? We’ll look at what Jesus says under two headings today - the Command, and the Completion.

Let’s remember the context. Jesus has arrived into Jerusalem just a few days before, riding on a donkey, the crowds welcoming him. Then he cleared the temple of the moneychangers and sellers. Since, he has been involved in disputes and debates with the scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, Saducees. Different political and religious groupings in Jerusalem. All trying to trick and trap him.

This scribe seems to be different, though. He’s not out to trap Jesus like the others. It seems to be a genuine question. Certainly Jesus receives him better than the others in the previous verses. And he asks that question - which commandment is the most important of all?

Straight away Jesus quotes a verse from Deuteronomy 6. Every Jew every day said this - it was like their creed, part of their daily prayers. ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The command to love God is based in who God is - the covenant LORD, the one who is the Creator and Rescuer - this is who God is.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses is speaking to the people of Israel. They’ve been in the wilderness for forty years, having been rescued from Egypt at the Passover, but then they disobeyed God’s command to go into the promised land. Moses knows he isn’t going over with them, so before he dies, he speaks to them, urging them to obey this time.

Because of who God is and what he has done, therefore, the command flows out of that - love the LORD your God. To love God is to delight in him, to cherish him, to seek to know him. And how are we to love God? Is it just for an hour or so on a Sunday? Is it if we remember to say our prayers? No, it’s so much more than that - it’s total love. Look at the four ‘all’s - all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. With every part of you, in every situation, whatever you do, think, say, feel - everything should be an expression of love for God.

It’s such a high standard, isn’t it? So much more than we think possible to give. Just think for a moment. What would it look like if I were to love the Lord with all my heart (in my affections and motives); with all my soul (in my very being); with all my mind (in what I think and how I think); with all my strength (in everything that I do, everywhere that I go, in my work)?

But just when you think Jesus has finished, when he has done what he was asked, when he has given the most important commandment, you find that he’s still going. It’s like one of those buy one get one free offers in the supermarket - two for the price of one. Verse 31: ‘The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’

It’s not that we only love God and close our eyes to the world, to everyone around us. No, love for God must be coupled with love for neighbour. They must go together. Your neighbour isn’t just the person who lives next door to you - but rather it is everyone around you, everyone in the world. The Jews in Jesus’ day were saying that it was just your fellow Jews, only the people the same as you who you had to love, but Jesus widens that to everyone, even your enemies! (cf Luke 10 The Good Samaritan).

So what will it look like to love your neighbour? Jesus gives us the standard, the amount of love to give and show and have for your neighbour. Love your neighbour as yourself. If there’s one thing all of us are good at, it is in loving ourselves. It’s what we do, as a result of our sinful nature. Out for number one, we immediately know when we’re losing out, being hard done by; we’re all experts at spoiling ourselves, treating ourselves, looking out for number one. We tell ourselves that ‘you’re worth it.’

Jesus says that this is the measure we should use in loving our neighbour. Are we as concerned for those around us? Are we aware of the needs of the people who live beside us? Are we good neighbours, by starting with those who live beside us? Maybe you have an elderly neighbour - call in to make sure they’re ok as the nights draw in.

But remember, again, that Jesus puts these two commandments together - love for God and love for neighbour. Earlier we mentioned only loving God and ignoring our neighbours. But some go the other way and love neighbours and work very hard for people, while completely ignoring God. That’s not what Jesus is saying. Rather God demands love for God and for neighbour. Just think of the ten commandments - our duty to God and our duty to your neighbour.

So that’s the command. The great commandment, to love God and love your neighbour.

The scribe agrees with what Jesus has said, and look at what his final words are: ‘You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’

Loving God and loving neighbour is more important than offerings and sacrifices. Where is it the scribe says this (and Jesus agrees)? They’re in the temple, the very place where the burnt offerings and sacrifices would be made! What Jesus and the scribe are saying is that obedience is better than the ritual sacrifices. Time and time again in the Old Testament we find this emphasis - obedience rather than sacrifice. Just one example: ‘He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to live kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.’ (Micah 6:8)

Heart obedience is more important than the repeated ritual sacrifices offered in the temple. This scribe gets it. It’s not about what you do that makes you right with God. It’s not how you perform on a Sunday as you come to church, looking respectable. It’s about obedience in the heart.

It’s what God requires of us - total love. And yet, while it sounds wonderful, I wonder if you’ve been reminded of your failings? You see, some people will try to tell you that they live by this great commandment. Love God, love your neighbour - that’s how I live my life. But as we’ve been thinking about the total love that God demands - indeed, that God deserves, I know that I can’t do it. That I haven’t done it.

Just think back over the past day - even just this morning. Have you loved God totally, and loved your neighbour totally? Or have your motives been mixed? The great commandment, admirable as it is, is still part of the Law of God, and the Law exposes our sin, flags it up, highlights it, reminds us of how we have failed.

What we need for our great sin of disobeying the great commandment is a great Saviour. One who perfectly obeyed this commandment, whose life perfectly demonstrated love for God and love for neighbour, whose sinless life was offered as a sacrifice for our sinfulness; whose life was given in the place of our death; whose perfect, spotless righteousness is given to us as we trust in his substitutionary death. The very one who was asked this very question - which commandment is the most important of all?

Remember Pilate’s words in John 19? ‘I find no guilt in him.’ (John 19:4) Jesus perfectly obeyed, lived his life in obedience to his Father, and through his death on the cross and his resurrection (the vindication of Jesus’ status), Jesus is king. This is the completion of the commandment.

Back at the start of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus appears on the scene and these are his first words: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ (Mark 1:15) The kingdom of God is near.

Jesus says that the scribe ‘is not far from the kingdom of God.’ He can see what it’s all about. But do you notice that we’re never told that he has entered the kingdom. What a tragedy, to get so close, and yet never to enter. The kingdom is near, because Jesus is near - he has perfectly fulfilled the law, completed the commandment, and invites us to share in his kingdom as we trust in him.

This is the pattern of life in the kingdom - obeying the king, and he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. We’re by no means perfect, but we will find that we are coming to love God and love our neighbour more than we did before.

You see, we’re not preaching Law - just the demands and commands. That way we either end up being proud of our own achievements, or crushed under our sense of guilt. We recognise the law, yes, but we preach the gospel of grace - Jesus has fulfilled this law, and that as you come to trust in him, there is no more condemnation for you. Rather than a crushing demand, we find it’s a joyful obedience - not through our own efforts, but through the Holy Spirit living in us and transforming us to be more like Jesus.

This sermon was preached in St Elizabeth's Church, Dundonald on Sunday morning 31st October 2010.

Sermon: 1 John 4: 7-12

As we come to our reading this morning, we notice that twice, John writes that we are to ‘love one another’. Now I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I find it hard to get on with some people in church. They like different services, or music style, or whatever, and it’s easier just to talk to the people who like the same things as me. I’m sure it’s not like this in St Jude’s though!

John is writing to the church, and in this short passage out of a much longer letter, he says twice here (and a few more times throughout the letter), that Christians are to love one another. In order to help us understand why this is, and then how to do it, we’re going to use W5. Not the science playground in the Odyssey, but the five w questions, as we look at the passage: Who, What, Where, Why, When, and then when we have used those, the How.

So Who? As I’ve said, John is writing to Christians, to the church. But within the passage, we find another description for them. The NIV says ‘Dear friends’ (7), but other versions (ESV) have the one word ‘beloved’. You who are loved, held in high esteem, you who receive love, here is the command, the What:

‘Let us love one another.’ Well, that’s easy enough, you might think - but what does it really mean? John only says ‘love one another.’ But how do we love one another? We’ll see as we continue through the passage.

So we’ve looked at who - the church; what - love one another; now the where. Where should we love one another? Is it just something for a Sunday morning, so that we’re polite to one another as we come into church and leave from church, but that’s really it? Can we even extend it to Sunday evening, or at the midweek Bible study? Or maybe even if we happen to bump into someone from church on the street or in town?

John doesn’t set a limit on loving one another. It’s not just for inside the building, inside the church, it’s for everywhere!

As we move along, we’re faced with the next W - the why? Why does John tell us to love one another? What is the motivation for loving each other? As we look more closely at the reading, we see four connected reasons: God is love, God’s children also love, love is the response to God’s love, and our love is a way to witness.

Look at verse 8. ‘Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.’ God is love. Do you see what the Bible is teaching us here? Not that God loves, that it is only something that God does - although that would be a strong enough reason to love. but more than that, God IS love. When you think about God, his very nature, his very being, his essence is love. All that he does (which is loving), comes as a result of him being love itself.

Because God is love, we who are his children must share in and copy his love. It’s the family likeness. Have you ever heard someone say to you that you’re the spitting image of your mum or dad? The family likeness is passed on, whether in looks, or in sporting ability, or musical talent. How much more then, when God our Father is love in his very self, that we should share in his likeness, and demonstrate his love!

‘Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.’ We who have been made children of God through adoption, who have been born again and made new - we are called to share in the family likeness, as we become more like Jesus.

But even more than that - as well as God being love, and us being born of God - our love is a grateful response to God’s love in the Gospel. Let’s look at verses 9 and 10 together - ‘This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world, that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’

This is the essential gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus. It’s very similar to probably the most famous verse in the Bible: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

We had a problem because of our sins - they meant that we would perish, would die. But God, in his great love, sent Jesus to atone for our sins on the cross, to die for them, in our place, so that rather than perishing, we might live through him. God’s love gives us life instead of death, peace instead of dread, joy instead of despair, and hope instead of fear.

When we think of God’s great love for us, the love that sent Jesus to the cross, how can we not love him and others? Or as John writes, ‘Dear friends (beloved), since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.’

As you sit here this morning, pause for a moment, and think of this. You are totally loved by God - as Philip Yancey once wrote ‘there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less’ - because you are totally loved, you are therefore special. But the person next to you is also totally loved by God, and also special. God’s love transforms how we see those around us - those loved by God just as much as he loves us. Therefore: love one another.

Verse 12 gives us another reason to love one another, which is an evangelistic reason. How do those outside see God’s love? How do they come to know God? One of the ways is by seeing the church loving one another. Look at verse 12. ‘No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.’ Say a visitor or a non-Christian came today. Would they see God’s love in you, as you love one another? That is a powerful way for them to see that God is love - as it is reflected in us. Whereas if we were to be fighting and suspicious and critical, it’s a poor reflection of God’s love - they would be wondering where the transformation is.

Our last W is another short one - When? Is there a time limit on loving one another? Should we just do it for the hour or so from 11 to 12 on a Sunday? No, there is no time limit, no conditions, just a continuous command to love one another. It’s not a part-time profession, but a full-time following, a constant commitment to love one another.

We’ve seen the W5 - Who? The beloved. What? Love one another. Where? Everywhere. Why? God is love, and we show our faith as we respond to the gospel of God’s love. When? Always. Yet you might be wondering, how can we do this? What does it actually look like? It’s all very well telling us to love one another, but how?

I don’t know what you think of when you hear the word ‘love.’ Maybe it conjures up images of red hearts on cards around Valentines Day, or of romantic strolls along the river Lagan, or a dozen red roses. The Beatles sang Love is all you need, and Wet Wet Wet sang that Love is all around. Is that what we’re talking about?

Well, no. We’re not talking about a soppy, sentimental gushy flow of emotion. Rather, we’re talking about loving as God loves, loving as Jesus demonstrates.

How do we know what love is like? Our passage points us again to the cross. Just as the cross is our motivation to love God and those around us, so the cross is also our example: ‘This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’

We are called to follow Jesus, to demonstrate cross-shaped love to those around us. Rather than putting our own needs first, or being comfortable, we put others needs ahead of our own. There’s a sacrificial cost as we put others before ourselves, as we put ourselves out. The Lord Jesus didn’t need to leave heaven, yet he came to seek and save the lost. He loved me and gave himself for me, as Paul said in Galatians 2:20.

Love is not just a word, it is an action. Genuine care, loving concern, yes, but also action. Jesus came into the world, sent by God’s love. Jesus came and also died. As John writes earlier in his letter: ‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.’ (1 John 3:16-18).

Can you imagine the Lord Jesus sitting on his throne in heaven saying, yes, of course I love them, but I don’t want to go to die for them. Just saying the words doesn’t mean that we are loving! As we love one another, we must act, and show our love, as a grateful response.

There’s a story about the apostle John, who wrote this letter. He was the last of the Twelve to survive, and when he was very old, he would be brought into the church, and sit up on his bed and say ‘Little children, love one another.’ Why did he keep insisting on it? He was, in the words of his gospel, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. He knew the love of Jesus, which had transformed him from being one of the ‘sons of thunder’ among the disciples who all sought to be greatest, to be content in God’s love, and called the church to do the same.

Dear friends, let us love one another.

This sermon was preached in St Jude's Parish Church, Ballynafeigh on the Ormeau Road, Belfast on Sunday 9th August 2009.