Psalm 107:1-9, 43            Hosea 11:1-11             Matthew 2:13-15

To love as God loves

As Genesis chapters 1 through 3 set the scene for the rest of Scripture, so Hosea chapters 1 through 3 set the scene for the dramatic prophetic statements that follow in chapters 4 through 14. The reoccurring themes in Scripture as a whole are reflected in both these passages: covenantal relationship (creation of Adam and Eve in God’s image and the marriage of Hosea to Gomer), rebellion (Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and Gomer selling herself into cult prostitution), exile (Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden and Gomer living somewhere other than with her husband) , deliverance (in Genesis 3 this is in the form of a promise but Gomer is bought back by Hosea), and restoration (again in Genesis 3 this is in the form of a promise, but in Hosea, Gomer is restored as his wife). 

This is again revisited with God’s covenant with Israel, their apostacy in Egypt, their enslavement by Pharoah, their deliverance by God through Moses in the Exodus, and their restoration as God’s covenant people at Mount Sinai. This theme is then repeated with Israel in the wilderness until their settlement in the Promised Land, then again in the rollercoaster period of the Judges and so on until we get to the Advent of Jesus where the themes are repeated once again culminating in His death, resurrection, and ascension. In an alliterated format these recuring themes could be listed as relationship, rebellion, rejection, redemption, and restoration. The Bible really is only one story that repeatedly points us to the loving, kind, patient, gracious, merciful, forgiving, and compassionate God of the universe.

By now, I’m sure you’ve all realised that our Psalm for today followed the same pattern: the covenant relationship as well as rebellion that led to a broken covenant relationship is assumed in verses 1-3, the theme of exile or rejection is stated in verses 4-5, deliverance or redemption can be seen in verse 6, and God’s gracious restoration is described in verse 7. The response is as it should be: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things…whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord.”

As hinted at before, Hosea maps out his entire message of a broken covenantal relationship, rejection, redemption, and restoration in the graphic opening illustration of his marriage to Gomer. In chapter 1, God instructed the prophet to marry a fallen woman (illustrating God’s covenant relationship with fallen humankind). The offspring of this unusual relationship serve as prophetic warnings to Israel: Jezreel (meaning “God sows” a double reference to punishment for the slaughter that took place in the valley of Jezreel as well as to the promise that Israel would one day flourish like a lush garden), Lo-Ruhamah (meaning “not loved” or “rejected”), and Lo-Ammi (meaning “not my people” and yet the name is immediately followed by a promise of redemption and total restoration after which they will be known as “sons of the living God”). 

Chapter 2 is an elaboration of this prophetic enactment ending once more with a promise of redemption and restoration. “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘not my loved one’. I will say to those called ‘not my people’, ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are our God’.”

And then in chapter three things really get interesting. It appears that Gomer sold or resold herself into cult prostitution! She is obviously no longer living in the prophet’s home, but we are not told if she left or was asked to leave. But here is the powerful message: Hosea is to buy her back and “love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” You have to watch out for those sacred raisin cakes…

These three chapters then serve as a backdrop to the rest of Hosea’s message. Every time people saw him…every time they heard him speak…it was this bizarre yet graphically effective image that loomed large in their mind. Hosea’s unusual acts, exposed Israel’s sin and warned them of certain judgement, but (especially his actions in chapter 3) also demonstrated God’s amazing grace and love for His people. The rest of the book is commentary on this vividly demonstrated pictorial revelation.

Now, chapter 11, the chapter we read from today, follows the same theme. It is a familiar story. Israel was enslaved in Egypt. While Moses did not tell us why they were enslaved for more than 400 years,  it is possible that the prophet Ezekiel did. In Ezekiel 20 God apparently said to the Israelites in Egypt: “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So, I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. But (and here comes the message of redemption) for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among, and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.” So, from what Ezekiel said here, we may deduce that the reason Israel was oppressed and enslaved in Egypt was because they had conformed to the Egyptian religion. Even though this was not said prior to Ezekiel’s prophecy it seems that it was understood. Israel’s slavery in Egypt was a result of their sin.

Be that as it may, when Hosea wrote the words “out of Egypt I called my son”, the hearers would have linked what the prophet said with what they had seen the prophet do in chapters 1 through 3. Just as Hosea had married Gomer (described in chapter 1 as an adulterous woman) so too God had rescued Israel after they had abandoned their faith in Egypt. But then Hosea continued to show how the rest of his enacted prophecy was being fulfilled by the repeated and ongoing rebellion of Israel. While Hosea had been instructed to buy back his twice-over adulterous wife and to restore her to his home after she had rebelled against him and had left him, so God would buy back his unfaithful people and restore them to himself.

Years later, Matthew would use Hosea to demonstrate to his readers what was happening in their day. In the Ancient Near East, quoting from any passage was meant to bring up the whole message of the text or book. Like quoting the first lines of a well-known song or lines from a well-known book or movie. These quotations are never meant to be taken in isolation. 

So, by quoting from this particular passage of Hosea, Matthew was trying to alert his readers to the fact that the coming of Jesus was the beginning of a new Exodus…or, to go back further, a new creation. Jesus was about to do what Adam and Israel had failed to do…by retracing in their footsteps, so to speak, Jesus re-enacted their history but without making the same mistakes they did…as such He was a perfect Adam and a perfect Israel…He was what they were meant to have been. 

But by using Hosea, Matthew was also saying something about Israel in the days of Jesus. He was saying that they had become like the Israel of Hosea’s day…by their actions, by seeling themselves out politically to Rome, they had sold themselves into harlotry like Gomer. They had become like Israel in the wilderness, repeatedly testing God and turning away from him. And God was about to judge his people…only this time, the judgment would fall on Jesus. For those who subsequently believe and are united in Jesus, this judgement has set them free from bondage to sin and Satan…the Exile is over! They have effectively moved out of darkness into his light. Jesus took the judgement that was ours upon himself and paid the penalty in full. In short, through Jesus, God bought us back as Hosea bought back Gomer.

However, like those who rejected the warnings of Hosea, for those who rejected Jesus, the judgment remained in place. 

The challenge then, for us is to take up the cry of Hosea, “Return…to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.” 

Those who are in Jesus, ought to walk as Jesus walked…to love as Jesus loved…to do what Jesus did. Jesus has paid for all the Gomers of this world. Jesus came to lead us out of Egypt. Jesus came to take us into the Promised Land, proverbially speaking…into His Kingdom…a kingdom without borders and without boundaries. 

Hosea speaks to us down through the ages and teaches us to love as God loves…to love sinners as God loves them. But there’s the question. Will we go…as Hosea did? Will we go as Jesus did? Will we go as the early believers did? Will history testify of us that we turned the world upside down with the message of redemption and restoration? 

In Jesus, the Exile has ended. The gates to Paradise stand wide open. We have the flashlight of God, and we have the directions. Will we shine his light into the darkness of our world and show those who cannot see the way?

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl July 2022

Whose Standard?

Psalm 119:9-16                Amos 7:7-17                  Luke 10:25-37

Whose Standard?

We all like to think that we have a right to pick and choose the rules that suit our desired lifestyle. People all over the world riot or picket or demonstrate or protest for or against regulating decisions made by their governments. Lines are drawn and sides are taken, dung is flung as each camp sincerely believes that they are right, and the others are wrong. 

Of course, this should not come as a surprise to those who have read Genesis chapters 2 and 3. There a standard was set (God said) and challenged (did God really say?). Lines were drawn, and a choice had to be made as to whose standard to follow. A choice was made and today we continue to live with the consequences of that choice. 

Thankfully, many years later, another choice was made in a different Garden…one just outside the walls of Jerusalem…a tough choice…an excruciatingly painful choice…but the right choice.

Choices will always be part of life this side of eternity, and choices will always have consequences. One choice can change your life forever. So, making the right choice is a wise thing to do. But how? How do you know that the choice you make is the right one?

At the risk of sounding oversimplistic, I wish to propose that the only way to ensure you are making the right choices is by applying the right standard. The Psalmist asked the question: “How can a person keep their way pure?” We could state the question a little differently. “How can anyone be sure they are making the right choices?” The answer is simple. By living according to God’s Word…or by applying God’s standard to our decisions. Seeking after God, sticking to his commandments, internalising his Word, reading, marking, learning, and obeying his Word…that is the only way to guarantee that an individual will make an informed and correct choice.

The story of the prophet Amos is an interesting one. In many ways, Amos was everything I am not. Amos was tough and blunt and fearless. He was not afraid of confrontation, and he said and did things no one wishes to hear today any more than they did during his lifetime. His style and the content of his messages is enough to make even the boldest of us choose an alternative text for our sermons.

In one sense, we could consider Amos a missionary as he was from the southern kingdom of Judah, ministering in the northern kingdom of Israel. You might recall that following Rehoboam’s disastrous choice to follow the advice of his contemporaries rather than his elders, Jeroboam set up a rival kingdom in the north, leaving Rehoboam to govern a smaller kingdom from Jerusalem. But Jeroboam was afraid that after the euphoria of freedom from Rehoboam’s harsh governance had died down, his subjects would begin to miss worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. So, to prevent this from happening, Jeroboam set up, not just one rival place of worship, but two…one in Dan in the north and one in Bethel in the south. Amos’ ministry was centred around Bethel.

Now, the curious thing about the worship at these two sites in Dan and Bethel is that it was somewhat like the worship in Jerusalem with just a few subtle twists. Besides the golden calves, Jeroboam chose his own priests, his own feasts and festivals, as well as his own liturgical style. Similar enough to satisfy the masses and thus keep them away from Jerusalem, but different enough to be dangerously misleading. It didn’t take long before the people were worshipping whatever they chose wherever they chose. You see, shifting God’s standard, even if ever so slightly, is never a good idea. It opens all sorts of doors better left closed. 

The history of the northern kingdom bears witness to the fact that this seemingly insignificant modification ushered the nation right into the arms of the foreign gods of their neighbours. And their subsequent stubborn refusal to turn back to God’s standard eventually led to their defeat and their destruction. One generation after the ministry of Amos, the Assyrian empire invaded the Northern Kingdom and carried the people into exile. 

According to the author of the book of Kings, all this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God…they had forsaken all the commands of the Lord their God and had not only made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, but also an Asherah pole. They deified the stars and planets, and they worshipped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and did evil in the sight of the Lord. 

One bad choice led to many others and changed the trajectory of a nation forever. Choices have consequences. The one good thing about bad choice, of course, is that they often result in great stories!

Amos was called to preach during the relatively peaceful reigns of two kings, King Uzziah of Judah, and King Jeroboam II of Israel. This was also a time of great prosperity, at least for a few at the expense of the many. At this point in time, the nation had forgotten about the laws of God concerning the division and distribution of land and the care and concern for every individual. A rising upper class began to oppress an emerging and increasingly impoverished peasant class. This was, in many ways, a return to their enslavement in Egypt. It is ironic to think that the reason for the initial break from Rehoboam’s kingdom was because the people did not want to be treated harshly…but then later, they lived under some of the harshest leaders imaginable.

Now, it is important to note that in his stern denunciation of this social injustice and the repression of the poor, Amos did not introduce new moral laws. No, rather he held up the ancient Word of God as a plumbline against Israel, bluntly stating that the only way to ensure they would make the right choices in the future would be if they applied the right standard to their lives. Amos’ prophetic words judged all the people…including their leaders…by God’s ancient standard, holding them accountable for their transgressions…warning them that if they persisted in their waywardness, they would be destroyed as a nation. It is no wonder that Amaziah, the priest at Bethel reported the prophet to the king! 

God’s judgment was not and is not ever limited to those in power! Everyone in the nation was and is held accountable for their own choices. Now, if Amos could stand up and challenge both great and small, so can we…as he said, he was no one special…just an ordinary man. But God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people.

The Samaritan who stopped to help a victim of violent theft and thuggery was also a rather extraordinary ordinary person! Actually, this Samaritan is extraordinary on quite few levels. Besides the fact that he, as an ordinary (yet marginalized) citizen, made the right choice while those of the religious establishment brought shame on their vocation through their selfish and heartless choices, you must remember that the Samaritans as a people group were the result of Israel’s sin and subsequent exile. 

Again, the book of Kings tells us that when Shalmanezer V took many of the people of Israel to Assyria in 722 BC, he also brought people from Babylon, Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the land and they intermarried with the remaining Israelites. This mixed nation was then served by one of the irregular priests of Israel who continued to lead them in the mixed religion started by Jeroboam. To the pure-blood, ancestry-conscious first century Jews, the Samaritans were an abomination. Unclean by blood and unclean by faith. 

But this is the person Jesus held up as exemplary! The one who made the right choice with regard to the weak and needy. You don’t have to possess a doctorate in biblical studies in order to live a life worthy of our Lord! All you really need is to know God and his Word – that will give you a heart filled with love for God and his heart in you filled with love for people! 

Jesus too was, in many ways, an ordinary person. He was a simple labourer from a small, insignificant town in Galilee of the Gentiles. While Jesus was not considered defiled as was the Samaritan, his place of origin was a subject for ridicule. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathaniel once asked, no doubt echoing a proverb voiced by many. A statement made later by some unidentified hecklers may indicate that the strange circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth was also questioned. “We are not illegitimate children,” they shouted.

Jesus certainly was not counted among the social elite or of the intelligentsia of the time, and yet the choices made by Jesus throughout his life leading up to his untimely death on the cross started a movement that turned the known world upside down within the space of a single generation. Choices have consequences. 

So, tell me. What choices have you made in the past? What choices are you making now, in the present? Whose plumbline or whose standard are you using to determine the correctness of your decisions? Are you struggling with the consequences of some bad decisions made before?

The good news is that it is never too late to change the direction of your life. Our God is merciful and gracious…he is kind and compassionate…he is altogether good and forgiving. If you are willing and serious in your desire to change, regardless of whether that change is simple or complex, God will fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you might live a life worthy of the Lord and so that you may please him in every way. 

Just pick up his standard, bring it alongside your life and allow it to serve as a plumbline…as a guide for removing what ought not to be there and for rebuilding that which is not square. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word. Speak to him about it as you read, asking for his guidance and conviction and strength to apply what you learn along the journey. Don’t rush through the text – savor every word and meditate on every phrase. Resist the urge to pick and choose the rules that suit your desired lifestyle. This is the only way to make the right choices in life. God made this world and he made you. Like a master designer and engineer, he knows exactly how you need to operate if you are to function without injury. 

“How can anyone be sure they are making the right choices?” The answer is simple. By living according to God’s Word…by applying God’s standard to our decisions. Seeking after God, sticking to his commandments, internalising his Word, reading, marking, learning, and obeying his Word…that is the only way to guarantee that an individual will make an informed and correct choice.

Learn from the examples set before you in Scripture…examples of ordinary people who made extraordinary choices…and then go and do likewise. 

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl July 2022

Boasting

Psalm 66                     Galatians 6:7-18                        Luke 10:1-4, 16-20

Boasting

One online dictionary defines the word boasting as “excessively proud and self-satisfied talk about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities”. In so many ways, boasting is a strange phenomenon. We all engage in it at some time in our lives. When we are younger, we may boast about our bigger brother (my brother can beat up your brother any day), our dads (my dad is smarter than your dad), our mums (my mum is prettier than your mum), or our homes (my house is bigger than your house). But as we get older, the focus of our boasting begins to get more personal. I am stronger, I am smarter, I am prettier, I live in a bigger house…I have more money than you (or more debt than you, my mortgage is bigger than your mortgage). Boasting can also focus in on our children…just go to any children’s sports event and watch the parents!

Boasting is generally frowned upon because of its effect on others. Flaunting one’s wealth, status, power, position, expertise, skills, abilities, beauty, possessions and so on may elevate the one boasting, but the effect it has on others is more often than not quite negative. It can make the listener jealous, envious, covetous, or angry…or it can crush them, humiliate them, debilitate them, or even disable them for life.

Unfortunately, believers are not exempt from boasting. But in the Church, boasting typically takes on a more subtle tone. While talk of wealth, buildings, or congregational size can pollute our ranks, “sanctified” boasting usually manifests itself in an over emphasis on moral or ethical or religious conduct. There are many biblical examples like the Pharisees who liked to parade their superiority publicly, but there are many modern-day examples as well. Like splashing photographs all over social media of yourself helping the poor and destitute. Or like misrepresenting and then “dismantling” or “defeating” the theological position of another believer in a dismissive or mocking tone. Or like demanding that all believers possess certain types of spiritual gifts, giving them the impression that if they don’t do this or that or the next thing, they are somehow deficient or dysfunctional. While this kind of boasting might seem innocent or harmless on the surface, these things smell of sulphur.

There has been quite a bit of a debate about the identity and intension of the Jewish-Christian rivals of Paul in Galatia. The more traditional view is that they were religious legalists who sincerely believed salvation had to be earned or merited through conformance to the ritual laws of Judaism. This is not too far removed from modern day legalists who believe one must do or have something or somethings to be acceptable to God…wear certain clothes, manifest certain spiritual gifts, sing certain hymns, or only read certain Bible versions, to name a few. 

More recently, some scholars have argued that Paul’s opponents were not inherently legalistic as, they argue, faithful Jews believed that God had chosen them to be his own for no other reason but that he loved them…and because they were so chosen, they had to express and preserve their identity by upholding a certain standard of living. 

While this certainly softens the more traditional view of Paul’s challengers, it does not appear to fit with what we read about these people in the biblical accounts as well as in the extra-biblical accounts (such as the writings of the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus). In these reports, those who challenged Jesus and his followers certainly believed that strict conformity to the expanded rules and regulations of biblical law was not optional. Their response to those who did not accept their so-called “standard of living” was certainly anything but soft. They crucified Jesus, stoned Stephen, imprisoned Peter, and persistently undermined Paul’s ministry, often resorting to violence. While it is true that there was a more lenient school of thought among some first century Jewish scholars and leaders, the majority believed that any violation of the law would imperil the state of the individual’s identity as a member of God’s people. 

But this conviction more often than not led to a zeal that bordered on mania. Remember Paul’s comment that what drove him to keep the law so meticulously was so that he would be better than all his contemporaries? But striving after self-elevation can only lead to contention and jealous envy and unhealthy competitiveness…and sowing contention, envy and competition can and will reap sinful thoughts and behaviours.

Paul certainly believed that those who were confusing the baby believers in Galatia were self-seeking opportunists. Bear in mind that Jewish believers in Jesus were often persecuted by their unbelieving Jewish brethren. So, in an attempt to avoid this, they made a show of compliance by compelling Gentile converts to conform to Jewish rules, regulations, and rituals. When such a convert capitulated to their demands, they would use them as evidence that, even though they believed Jesus to be the Messiah, they were still adhering to the traditions of the elders. 

But this idea would render the cross of Christ meaningless. If one had to earn God’s favour, what was the point of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus? I do not for one moment believe that Paul was saying the law of God ought to be discarded. He makes that very clear in his letter to the church in Rome. The law of God is holy, good, and true. But this holy, good, and true law had been misinterpreted and misapplied by people who did not understand the nature of God’s salvific work. The law was never intended to be a way to salvation. The law was always meant to be an ethical expression of a nation already saved by a gracious and merciful and forgiving God. In fact, salvation by merit detracts from the perfect loving character of God and thus dishonours him. The focus then is on my goodness, not his.

That is why Paul said that he would not boast in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Boasting in anything else, especially our own abilities and strengths, would be like worshipping a foreign god. Religious rituals and legal regulations are poor substitutes for a living and vibrant relationship with a loving and kind and compassionate God.

Now, we can discuss theoretical elements of legalism until the cows come home, and we can shake our heads and cluck our tongues as we think about the error of Paul’s opponents. But even though most of us would agree that salvation depends on God’s choice to love us even while we were sinners, our behaviour often betrays us. For instance, a judgemental or critical spirit exposes a conviction that somehow, we are better than other people. Haughtiness and arrogance and pride are opposed to the mind of Christ that centres on humility. 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus’ dumped a bucket of cold water over the heads of the rejoicing seventy-two returning evangelists in our Gospel lesson for today? Luke reported that they returned with joy because even demonic powers submitted to them in the name of Jesus. But instead of giving them the proverbial pat on the back and saying, “Good job”, Jesus delivers what could be construed as a bit of a downer. “Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” What’s going on here? Was Jesus a major killjoy? 

I think that perhaps Jesus was addressing the all-too-human tendency towards boasting. Notice their report. Even the demons submit to us…in your name. It is a derived authority…they had the ability to cast out demons because Jesus gave them that power. They could do what they did because Jesus had done what he had done. It may seem to be a subtle shift in focus, but when you examine it more closely, you will see that this is a major correction in theological thinking. Without their names being written in heaven, they would have no authority at all. The boasting ought to be directed towards Jesus, not their successful mission. 

So, how does one avoid sliding into misguided boasting? I think our Psalm for today gives us a few good pointers. For starters, know the God in whom you believe. Our God is the God of all the earth. There’s no wiggle room here. Either he is or he isn’t. Then, having established the identity of the God the Psalmist is commanding us to praise (in other words who God is), the Psalmist then invites us to evaluate what this God does. “Come and see,” he said, “what God has done!” And then he goes on to list several things God had done in the past for his people. Now, we have quite a lot of research material when it comes to both these subjects. Keep your eyes fixed on these two truths (Who God is and what God has done and is still doing) and your feet will not slip.

This past week, Louise and I were exhorted to reflect on the position of Mary of Bethany in three accounts of her meeting with Jesus. The most well-known is where she sat at Jesus’ feet while her sister, Martha, was fretting with dinner prep. The second account was when she fell down at his feet after the death of her brother, Lazarus. The third account was when she anointed Jesus’ feet with costly perfume shortly before he was murdered. In all three instances, this remarkable woman is at her Lord’s feet. She did not seek to be his equal nor did she seek to be his superior. No, her position was one of humble submission and adoration. Her practice demonstrated her theology.

Paul ended his letter to the Galatians with a rather odd statement that has invited quite a lot of debate over the centuries. “I bear on my body,” Paul wrote, “the marks of Christ.” Of course, he meant to contrast his marks with the mark of circumcision, but what exactly were these marks of Jesus? Scholarly guesses have ranged from some form of stigmata, like that allegedly experienced by St Francis and other mystics, to the scars of his various beatings. But knowing Paul, I believe he was referencing the permanent mark placed on a Hebrew slave who had freely elected to remain with his Hebrew master. In Deuteronomy 15 God told Israel that if a slave said to his master, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loved his master and his household, then his master was to take an awl and pierce it through his slave’s ear into the door, and then the slave would become his servant for life. The indelible mark on the slave’s ear would serve as a permanent reminder of his identity as a slave of his master.

This was also a common practice in the Greco-Roman world…slaves were often branded like animals to prove ownership. Now as abhorrent as that may sound to our 21st century ears, I believe that what Paul was trying to tell his readers was that his identity was eternally wrapped up in the person of his master. Paul was a slave of Jesus and, like Mary sitting or prostrating herself at the feet of Jesus, this position kept his vision firmly fixed on the one who alone deserves our boasting…our praise, our worship, our adoration…the one who is God of all the earth…the one who alone reigns over all things. 

So, do you want to do whatever it takes to prevent you from boasting in anything save the cross of Jesus Christ? Let his mark of ownership be visible to all. Stay at his feet.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl June 2022

Salvation Through Judgment

Psalm 43               Isaiah 65:1-9             Luke 8:26-39

Salvation Through Judgment

I think that one of the saddest statements in Scripture is found in the Gospel of John 1:11. John reported that when Jesus came to his own, his own did not receive him. This is the tragedy of the Gospel story. Those who claimed to worship the one true God failed to recognise him when he came to live among them. 

One of the causes for this was that they had muddled the Word of God by adding their own rigid explanations and unchallengeable traditions. We see Jesus correcting the misapplication and misinterpretation of Scripture time and again throughout his ministry. “You have heard that it was said,” Jesus told the crowds…please notice he did not say you have read that it was written…You have heard that it was said, but I say to you.” Jesus was challenging the oral law of the Jewish leaders. 

And then to the Jewish leaders he said, “You disregard the Word of God because of your tradition.” It was this repeated challenge to the status quo that eventually led to the crucifixion. Jesus came to his own people and his own people, not only refused to receive him, but they rejected him and simply got rid of him. “…the reason many of the leaders would not see was because they could not see…they had ears, but they did not listen…they had eyes, but they did not see…their hearts were closed, not open…they could not receive anything.”  They were completely unteachable and consequently unreachable and unchangeable. Jesus had come to his own, but his own were not willing to come to him…and judgment would surely follow this rejection.

But this was not the first time that God levelled this charge of pig-headedness against his people. In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 65 we read that God held out his hands all day long to an obstinate people who had chosen to disregard God’s Word and to live by their own set of rules…rules that mirrored the beliefs and practices of the other nations around them…the offering of incense to foreign gods and goddesses, the practice of necromancy, and an outright rejection of the purity and dietary laws. 

In many ways, John was simply echoing Isaiah and many of the other Old Testament authors when he said: He came to his own and his own did not receive him. 

But the triumphant beauty of the Gospel is that it doesn’t end there. John went on to say, “But to all who did receive him, to those who believed on his name, he gave power to become children of God.” Or, to return to the words of Isaiah, God chose to reveal himself to those who did not ask for him. He chose to be found by those who did not seek him. To a nation that did not call on his name God said, “Here I am.”

We see this rejection/acceptance or the judgment/salvation theme throughout Scripture. Right from the moment sin first entered the world, salvation has always come through judgement. Paul repeatedly stated that salvation came to the Gentiles as a result of God’s judgment of those who rejected him.  Speaking of the refusal of some Jews to believe in Jesus, Paul said in Romans 11:11, “because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.” What is mind-blowing about this statement is that it is an allusion to what God said through Moses in Deuteronomy 32:21. “They made me jealous,” God said, “by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.” The Gentiles who once were not considered a people, became the people of God…a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…everything the Jews had once been called prior to their rejection of Jesus.

It is interesting to note as one reads through the Gospels, that while Jesus was often tested and rejected in his own country, the moment he crossed into pagan territory people received Him and believed in Him. The Samaritan woman and her village is one good example, as is the Canaanite woman in Phoenicia. The Gadarene demoniacs and their people are another good example. 

As we read in our Gospel lesson: After a day of challenges and teaching, Jesus told his disciples to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the territory of the Gadarenes. Out of sheer exhaustion, Jesus fell asleep in the boat. But as they were crossing the lake, a storm suddenly blew up, as it often does in this area…a storm so powerful that even these experienced fishermen panicked. Jesus, of course, did not, as he knew who held his life in his hands, so he continued to sleep. Peter’s hysterical rebuke earned him a composed rebuke in return. After calming the storm, Jesus simply asked, “Where is your faith?” It is the same kind of statement Jesus made later to Philip. “Have I been with you so long, Philip and still you don’t know me?” 

But try to put yourselves in the sandals of these disciples. You know, it is one thing to heal people…another to drive out a demon…even another to bring a dead person back to life. But to command the unpredictable and uncontrollable forces of nature? Who could do that? Only one who was greater than the created order itself. 

But then, as they were still trying to wrap their minds around what they just witnessed, an unearthly scream shattered their reflections. In Matthew’s account of this story, there were two men, not one. I think that perhaps the reason Luke only mentioned one man is because the other demoniac was silent. Be that as it may, let’s get back into those disciples’ sandals and try to sense what must have been going on in their thoughts. We are told that the man was so riddled with demons that he was called legion. Now think on that. A Roman legion was 6,000 men strong! This is not just one solitary bothersome fallen angel inhabiting this man. This was a formidable army of dark powers!

And yet…the voices coming out from this man were pleading for mercy! Jesus, on the other hand, was composed and not at all alarmed. He was in total control of the situation, just as he had been with the storm. And then, according to Matthew, with a single word, “Go!”, the demons were cast out into the herd of pigs. 

Now, we’ve heard this story so many times that it has lost some of its impact. Again, try to put yourself in the place of the disciples. What had they just witnessed in a very short space of time? The storm was one thing – that was natural. The Gadarene demoniacs presented them with a storm of an altogether different type. This was unnatural or supernatural. Who was this man who could calm a raging storm, but also cast out raging demonic forces? What kind of power did he possess? 

It is interesting to note at this point, that these Gentile men quite literally lived among the dead in the tombs and, no doubt, fed on swine’s flesh…an intriguing connection with our Isaiah passage…only these were not insolent Jews…these were ignorant pagans.

Now, I want to draw your attention to the fact that when the townsfolk asked Jesus to leave the area, the freedmen asked if they could go with Jesus. But Jesus said they needed to return home and tell their families what God had done for them. At this point, I’d like to fast-forward to the feeding of the four thousand, an event that happened in the same general area as this story. As we read that account, we are amazed to find that the same crowds who had once asked Jesus to leave a few months back, now flocked to see him. This can only be a result of the faithful witnessing of the two freed men. This story is reminiscent of the Samaritan Woman story. Non-Jews responding to Jesus in a way his own people had largely not responded. 

He came to his own and his own did not receive him, but…as many as received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave power to become children of God. 

The stubborn resistance of the unbelieving Jewish leaders, and the ever increasing reception of believing Gentiles into the Church, is spelled out in painful detail in the book of Acts. This Jewish resistance and rejection of Jesus and his faithful witnesses ultimately culminated in the destruction of their city and their temple in AD 70. But judgment led to salvation…for both the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles as the New Jerusalem continued and continues to spread throughout the world.

This is still true today. When people of faith begin to replace God’s Word with philosophies and ideologies of their own, they inevitably begin to slide down into insignificance and eventual oblivion. What is dead cannot offer life. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life…reject him and you have nothing to offer. In fact, you shackle yourself to the forces of darkness as you deliberately choose to live among and embrace the spiritually dead. 

It is only when you are confronted with the living Christ…it is only when you come under his merciful judgment…it is only when the words “Be still” and “Go” are spoken…it is only then that you are saved from slavery to sin and Satan and are brought from death to life. Salvation can only come through judgment. You cannot hold onto grace and sin at the same time. Pretence is meaningless. The Jewish leaders had a form of godliness…to all around them they looked so pious and so holy…but inside they were full of death. It is judgment that breaks open the tomb and raises the captive to freedom. 

Now, I understand that I am preaching to the choir here. You are not among those who have not received or believed in Jesus. So, I am not about to issue an altar call here.

But I am going to challenge you by asking if you are like the freed Gadarene men…are you telling those who have not yet received or believed in Jesus how much God has done for you? Are you witnesses to his awesome greatness and power? You may not have seen a storm stilled…you may not have witnessed an exorcism…or a miraculous healing…or a resurrection…but you have witnessed his ability to open spiritually blind eyes, to unstop spiritually blocked ears, to break up the fallow ground of spiritually stony hearts, and to fill a spiritually dead tomb with his lifegiving Spirit. You have witnessed the judgment of your sin and have received salvation by responding to that conviction with surrender…and you are now numbered among those who are children of the living God.

Surely, that is a story worth repeating.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl June 2022

June Newsletter

Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in the Netherlands Who would have known that settling in could be so unsettling? Moving to the Netherlands has been one of the steepest learning curves we have ever had to scale.    This is the first time that Louise and I will be serving as missionaries in a country so technologically advanced. Most things - from trains to banks to something called DigID - work with Apps on your cell phone! One would assume that this would make things a lot easier, but for technologically challenged people like us it is quite the reverse. Simple things like opening a bank account proved to be an exercise in total exasperation. Add to that the fact that the official communication is all in Dutch. No, Afrikaans is not helping us here...to the contrary. It works against us as many words either do not mean the same thing or they simply do not exist. A recent example is when asked what I would like to drink I replied, in what I thought was Dutch, 'net water' which means, in Afrikaans, 'just water'. But what I actually said in Dutch was that I wanted anything but water! The word 'excuse me' in Afrikaans actually means 'please clean me' (think baby diaper) in Dutch! While many folks are kind enough to speak to us in English, the legal forms for most requirements are in Dutch. And oh my, there are many requirements...and every one costs us dearly. (Nearly $1,000 just to obtain original marriage and birth certificates with apostilles from South Africa!) But, while we still have a number of untied loose ends hanging around, we are making headway...slowly.  I was licensed to serve in the Diocese of Europe on Sunday May 15. A number of local clergy, personal friends, and friends of Christ Church were in attendance as well as the head of the Intercontinental Church Society, Richard Bromley.    Louise and I are learning new modes of travel in the Netherlands...trains, buses, trams, and bicycles. Given the recent hikes in prices of fuel, the latter is fast becoming our mode of choice. While it may take longer, it is not as hard on the already tight budget and it has health benefits...mentally, physically, and spiritually. The Netherlands is a beautiful country and designated bike lanes often take you through woodland areas.    We are still working on our visa applications, so prayers are appreciated. We have fulfilled most of the requirements for the IND and are now waiting for the residency cards.  Christ Church, Heiloo is a small but vibrant community of believers who strive to love and serve our Lord. Most members are expats from the US, the UK, South Africa, and other European countries, but we also have a number of Dutch locals. We also have lots of children, which is such a blessing! There is a strong sense of responsibility with regard to outreach which is very encouraging. Even though only 50 members, they support and pray for five different missions and the recent Women's Retreat had 20 non believers in attendance! Pray for fruit on their efforts!  Most Dutch people are not aggressively opposed to the Gospel. They are simply indifferent. This is the first time Louise and I have worked in such a secular society, so please do pray for wisdom as we seek to reach out to our neighbours.  Louise and I recently attended a Biblical Theology Conference in a quaint town by the name of Amerogen. This was not only spiritually invigorating and reviving, it was also very encouraging to see so many Dutch pastors and church leaders, especially the younger generation, in attendance. Tyndale seminary hosted the conference, but there were other Christian organisations present with whom we could network. Pray for God-connections for us. The Queen, Louise's mum, will be visiting us in July. Even though she is 97 years old and rather frail, it is her express desire to visit the place of her birth and childhood one more time. Our sons will also fly in from Boston and Stockholm to spend some time with her. Please pray that this will be a blessed visit.  Langham publishers have told me that the sequel to Breakfast on the Beach: The Development of Simon Peter will be published later this year. I have asked them to please consider having the book available before the New Wineskins Conference in September, so please pray with me that this will be possible. In the meantime, I am working on a Study Guide for Breakfast...something I have never done before, so please bathe this in prayer as well.  Thank you for your ongoing support. I realise that at this time of financial crisis, many of our supporters are giving sacrificially. We are humbled and challenged by your faith in continuing to give to the Lord's ministry in spite of rising costs. The cost of living in the Netherlands is a lot higher than what we are used to, but we are learning the art of finding deals! But the bottomline is we are so grateful to everyone who prays for us and supports us financially and otherwise. As always, our SAMS support account could be better, but then again it could also be worse. The Lord knows our needs and we leave that in His hands. Bless you and thank you.   All our love Johann and Louise Support Us Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. At present, they are mostly working in Southern Africa where they are serving in seven southern African countries, although they continue to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa as well as other southern and northern African countries, through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are partnering with J-Life and other like-minded ministries. This ministry is massive and has the ability to reach thousands. We are sent  through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.  Support SAMS Copyright © 2016 Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, All rights reserved. www.sams-usa.org      Our mailing address is: PO Box 399 Ambridge PA 15003 Attention to: Johann and Louise van der Bijl Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

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God can use you as a key to unlock hearts for Him

This is a talk given in a family service and therefore geared towards little children rather than adults. It had to be translated as well, and consequently had to be kept short. But basic stories like this can speak even to adults, right?

Psalm 42            2 Kings 5:1-19a

God can use you as a key to unlock hearts for Him

Introduction:

Have you ever been scared? 

Who did you want to comfort you when you were scared?

Lesson: 

Many, many years ago, in a country far, far away from here, there lived a young girl who was very scared. Her mommy and daddy were not with her. They were far away in her home country. You see, she was as servant, living and working in the home of a stranger in a foreign country. She felt very alone. 

To make matters worse, the master and mistress of the house did not believe in God. But the mistress of the house was kind to her even though she was a servant in the household.

The master of the house was a very important man in the government of his country. His name was Naaman. Naaman was the top commander of the army of the King of Aram. But Naaman was very, very sick and nothing could make him well again.

But the little girl knew and loved God very much and she knew that God could do anything…that God could heal her master, Naaman. She also knew that God wanted everyone in the world to know him and perhaps, if Naaman was healed through prayer, God might use the healing as a key to unlock his heart so that he would believe in him and serve him. 

“But”, she thought, “who would listen to a little servant girl like me?” 

Every day she prayed and asked the Lord to give her the courage to speak to her mistress about her master…and then one day, she plucked up enough courage and said to the lady of the house, “There is a man of God in my home country. If my master would go to see him, he would pray to God and he would be healed.” 

And do you know what happened?

Yes, Naaman listened to the little girl’s advice and he got permission from his king to go to her home country to meet with the man of God. 

Does anyone know what the man of God told Naaman to do?

Yes, he told Naaman to go and dip himself in the Jordan River seven times. And Naaman was healed! Isn’t that wonderful?

Now, do you think it was the water that made Naaman well? 

What do you think made Naaman well?

Yes, it was God that healed Naaman. God healed Naaman because Namaan obeyed the words of the man of God. But, after Naaman was healed, his heart opened up to the Lord and he believed in God and served him for the rest of his life.

But the key that unlocked Naaman’s heart was the courage of a scared little servant girl who knew God and loved God. A little servant girl who knew that God loved the whole world and wanted everyone in the world to love Him too. If the little girl had not spoken to her mistress, Naaman would not have known about the man of God who would pray for his healing. 

Application:

Do you sometimes want to tell other people about God? 

Is that easy, or are you sometimes a little afraid of what they might say or do…or what they may think of you if they know you believe in God?

I think this little girl was afraid too, don’t you?

But that did not stop her from telling her mistress about God, did it? 

But what did she do? 

Yes, she prayed and asked God for courage…for him to help her.

You too can pray and ask God to help you tell others about God.

God can use anyone as a key to unlock the hearts of those who do not yet know Him.

God can use even you!

The Value of the Church

Psalm 8                            Romans 5:1-11                     John 16:12-15

The Value of the Church

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t simply put a stop to everything? If he has made all things new, as the New Testament teaches us, why is there still sin and suffering and sorrow? Scholars down through the centuries, all by far my superiors, have debated and argued and written about this question…and I am under no delusion that we will find an answer to that question today. 

But, as with most things, I believe truth is simple rather than complex. Perhaps that is why Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children…children who have not yet learned to be critical in their thinking. Most children, barring those who have been robbed of joyful simplicity through abuse by authority figures, are not prone to see things from many different angles…what they see is what they accept…and trust is normally not an issue.

I think behind the obsessive desire for God to bring an end to the present age lies a faulty understanding of how God works. Most westerners, at least, have embraced a philosophy of prosperity and ease and this has slowly seeped into the theology of the Church. When the going gets tough, the tough are exposed as, well, not so tough…and we are quick to pray for a speedy rescue. Come quickly Lord Jesus! And if there is no immediate deliverance forthcoming, our faith begins to crumble. Perhaps God doesn’t love me, perhaps God doesn’t care, perhaps God does not exist…

We also live in a throwaway society where old or used or damaged or broken things are easily and quickly discarded and replaced by new things…until that new thing becomes old or used or damaged or broken. But God is not like that. He doesn’t simply discard his creation or his creatures. God does not abandon us or give up on us. We learn that lesson throughout salvation history starting in Genesis chapter 3. God could have caused everything in the universe to implode on the day Adam and Eve disobeyed him so that he might start again with a new and unflawed creation…but he didn’t, did he?

I think one way to illustrate the way God works is the Japanese art form known as Kintsugi which means "golden joinery". Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.

The Kintsugi technique treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. As a philosophy, kintsugi embraces the flawed or the imperfect, because it sees value in the marks of wear in any given object. Actually, the technique highlights the cracks and repairs by using a shiny precious metal because the artists view the cracks or fractures, not as irredeemable imperfection, but rather as just one event in the long life of the object. Therefore, the mended object is treasured instead of discarded. Its service is not brought to an end at the time of its damage or breakage.

In the same way, instead of discarding his broken creation, God picked up the pieces and slowly began to repair the damage, not with precious metals, but ultimately with his only Son’s precious blood. But the effect is the same…while we humans are not flawless, and while creation still groans in pain waiting with us for our complete redemption, in Jesus we are redeemed, repaired, and restored for use by the King.

I believe this is the gist of what Paul was saying in Romans 5. When we were still powerless, Paul said…when we were still enemies…when we still broken, Christ died for us. Jesus picked up the pieces of our shattered lives and glued us back together with something far more precious than gold. He glued us back together with love. He did not trash us…he did not discard us…he took us as we were, put us back together, and filled us with his Spirit so that, even in the midst of brokenness, we might continue our service as living examples of his grace and mercy. 

It is interesting that in both cases…those who lovingly piece back together the shards of smashed pottery, and God who lovingly pieces back together the fragmented lives of believers…the object is to redeem the brokenness. The vessel does not remain broken. It is repaired so that it might be used as it was intended to be used. So too with the followers of Jesus. While the signs of breakage…the scars of sin…may still be quite visible, we are remade to serve as we were intended to serve. But, although our God meets us in our mess, he does not intend to leave us there. Just like the mended piece of pottery demonstrates the skill of the artisan, we too serve to display the grace and mercy of our God. 

The repair work itself proclaims that God values us enough to mend us. In fact, we could say that it is our brokenness that showcases God’s love for humanity. It is by our mended lives that others see the true character of God…he loves us enough to fix us. Our mended cracks display his greatness.

It is our repaired brokenness that serves to show the glory of God, and therein lies the role of ongoing suffering. Suffering is, in many ways, part of the redemptive process. The repairing process takes time. If the piece of pottery is to be used, the artisan must make sure that it is well mended. As sad as it may sound, suffering serves the same purpose. Suffering, Paul said, produces something…it produces a hardiness…a strength. Suffering, he said, produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope…a hope that will not fail us nor frustrate us nor disappoint us. Ultimately, it is suffering that produces a hope that will hold even in the darkest and most difficult of times.

But there is even more to ongoing suffering than this. I believe suffering serves to keep us humble…it serves to remind us that we did not earn our salvation. Suffering serves to remind us that we are all flawed…that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…that none of us are perfect…none of us are complete. Suffering serves to remind us that none of us have arrived yet. We are all at once saved and yet still being saved. Salvation is, in many ways, a lifelong journey that starts when we first surrender our brokenness to Jesus. 

And therein lies the reality of life in the Church. We are all broken…we are all in some or other state of repair…none of us are perfect as all of us are flawed. Only one is perfect and that is the Lord who has saved us and who is still putting us back together again through the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. As such, we need each other because we are not all broken in the same way nor are we all mended in the same way. We all have different gifts and skills that work together to unite the broken pieces that we are. As the redeemed body of Christ, we are meant to be interdependent and as we serve our Lord and serve each other in the limitations of our own fragility, the world is confronted with the truth…that God loves…that God values the world so much that he was willing to give his Son to die for us even while we were still powerless…while we were still without God…while we were still rebellious sinners…while we were still shattered, broken, and cracked.

Therein lies our value. What is a human being that God should be mindful of him? the Psalmist asked. The answer lies not in the human, but the God of the human. We are valuable because God values us…we are bought and paid for with the priceless blood of Jesus.

Today, we gather as a body of believers to hold what is called the Annual General Meeting. Far from being a chore or a burden or a bore, this meeting serves to highlight everything I have just said. We are people who are loved by our Maker…loved enough to be put together, not just as individuals, but as members of his Body. Each one of us is like a broken piece of pottery…every piece is needed to make the vessel whole again. I need you and you need me, and we all need each other. The Annual General Meeting illustrates the necessity for every member to work together to make this body function properly. From the opening prayer asking the guidance of our Lord, to the apologies of those who are absent, to the minutes of the previous meeting, to the various reports, to the activities of the church council, the chaplaincy, and the synod…all these things demonstrate our need to work together as a body in our collective service of our Lord.

It is here, in what may seem to some to be mundane, that we see God at work. Every action…even if flawed or imperfect…every action, regardless of how big or how small…every action performed by one of his children is precious to him because every one of his children is precious to him. He’s proved this by demonstrating his love most clearly on the cross of Jesus Christ…he’s proved this by not discarding us…by not ending it all and starting anew…he’s proved this by picking us up and putting us back together again. 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2022