It’s been over 12 years now since Barbara and I travelled to the UK in August of 2012 for our 25th anniversary. We did something that I will never do again: we decided to travel to 10 different cities in Ireland, Scotland, England and finally Wales, in 21 days.
I still can’t quite believe we did that. I did all the driving. At the end of the trip, which was very lovely, we had to cross from Wales to go back to Ireland in order to catch our plane home from Dublin.
We had been visiting Barb’s Welsh relatives in Tony Refail, and they had given us a few cautions about the ferry ride from Wales to Ireland.
“It’s a tad bumpy at times” said one relative. “Could be mite upsy-downsy, though nothing like it’ll be in January”, said another.
Not quite appreciating the British and Welsh cultural tendency to make molehills out of mountains,we boarded and parked the car on the ferry and went to the lovely restaurant area, where we and others enjoyed a good lunch.
We’d decided to splurge a bit at the end of the trip so we had arranged to have our our cabin. Once the fairy got moving, things started out quite calmly. We roamed the deck outside the restaurant for a while, and then decided to go to our cabin.
Within about 15 minutes we were in the thick of the channel between Wales and Ireland, and the boat was going up and down 16 feet about five times every minute. It was, to us, unbelievable. These photos don’t do the experience justice. This conveys what it was like a bit better.
If you’ve ever been in that type of situation, you would appreciate what that type of thing can do to your stomach.
Barbara succumbed to the upsy downsy and afterward lay down. Somewhat in shock, with Barbara now asleep in the cabin, I decided to walk around the rather large ferry to see how others were dealing with the current challenge.
What I heard as I walked by the other cabins were children crying, people quite audibly losing their lunches, And many others, mostly adults lying on the floor, clinging to it for dear life. This was all over the ferry. I made it to the restaurant area, and there was no one sitting or standing there.
Mercifully, after about 45 minutes, we docked in Ireland, drove the car off the ferry, and made our way to Dublin. I had never experienced or imagined a more physically disconcerting and disorienting scenario.
The closest parallel my brain went to as I reflected on the event is the emotional and mental turmoil I experienced before discovering that there is a God, before learning about Jesus, before becoming grounded in the Word of God, The Bible. I chose the passages that were read today because I truly believe it to be the bedrock of Christian faith. The anchor of our spirituality.
The solid ground of everyone whose life is carefully and thoughtfully turned over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is an eternity locked up in these words: “Jesus Christ...the same yesterday and today and forever.” And I believe God would draw us into reflecting on what this means today as we face the turmoil that the world is in, and as we face our own challenges that threaten to destabilise our worlds.
Some might look at this passage and begin to think that this suggests that God is static and rigid. Sameness means that for some. But the key to understanding this passage is actually from an earlier sentence in our reading in verse 5: “God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”.
Wedding vows. I’ve heard a lot of them. I’ve heard very creative ones. I’ve heard very odd ones. Very individualised ones.
For our wedding Barbara chose Naomi’s words to Ruth: “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God”. That floored me on our wedding day as it does today. The best wedding vows share a common theme with Barbara’s vows to me. “I am yours. I will be with you always. I will not depart.”
Why? Why do couples make this statement to each other? It’s because commitment and constancy and fidelity are required for a relationship to flourish.
Very recently I got really, really sick with an absurdly bad cold. I could do next to nothing for myself. For at least 5 days straight Barbara took care of me. She made me tea, brought me meals; she took all of the stress out of the picture and that allowed me to just rest and heal.
I gave her this necklace of a couple hugging as a thank you. She’s the gold one. Her response was a big hug and these words: “To love, honour and cherish, in sickness and in health”.
If there is doubt about the commitment of one toward the other, the relationship cannot move forward and both people become stuck. Like wearing concrete shoes. Unable to move. Unable to dream.
So why does God say to you: “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you”. The NLT translates this “I will never abandon you”.
The Message paraphrase says: “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you”.
God says this to you because He wants us to live in the freedom and confidence of knowing that we know that we know that He is our Rock.
He IS our faithful and unchanging refuge and strength in all the situations that we may face in our life.
And He says this to you because it is His character to do so. And this is the way He treats his people.
He said to Jacob in Genesis Chapter 28:15 “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
To his people Israel he said: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deut 31:6)
And King David, that tragically flawed man who had a heart after God’s own heart, told his son Solomon : “ “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you 1 Chronicles 28:20.
David, maybe more than any other biblical character, had experienced God’s abiding presence and faithfulness despite his own stupid, stupid mistakes. Aren’t you glad that God’s faithfulness isn’t dependent on you?
He speaks the comfort of his constant presence because it is His character to be completely faithful. Completely trustworthy. You are never alone. We may feel alone. But here is where feelings betray us. They can lie to us.
The phrase you’ve heard in 100 love songs, “follow your heart“, while it is intended perhaps to free people from following wrong paths, Israeli asking people to submit to your heart. The problem with that of course is that the Bible says that the heart is wicked above all things, who know it.
So you might feel alone at times, but you and reality because God is with you, because the Holy Spirit dwells in you by faith, you are never alone. Again, our emotions and feelings can deceive us They can block out the most critical truth that God wants us to carry with us. [Put your hand in front of your mouth. Breath onto your hand.] He is closer to you than your own breath.
What does this mean for you...now, today. It means He will never withdraw His presence from you - He will never leave you. And He will never withdraw his help (he will never forsake you).
What is a fitting response to this revelation of God’s character? When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17
What value was added to Jacob’s life because he trusted God to never leave or forsake him? Confidence. Courage.
Courage to move forward. Courage to believe God for better things yet to come.
More importantly perhaps...courage to wake up and get out of bed tomorrow morning when the rest of the day is uncertain.
Most of us heard the news last Sunday that Pastor Jonathan is leaving with his family to return to South Africa. He has been an excellent pastor to you. He has been a friend to many. He has taught us, he has preached the gospel, he has made quite an impression on many people.
For some people here who are a little bit newer to us, Jonathan may have been your first Welcome into this fellowship. You will have experienced his kindness and his humour, and you received much.
A very good way to frame it in our minds, and this is the way I navigate such changes, is to understand that we have received great gifts from God. We have been welcomed into this church, we have experienced kindness and received much… From God, through Pastor Jonathan.
Pastor Jonathan oriented his life long ago so that he is a conduit of blessing to others, first to God, then to his family, and then to his community. And in doing that he finds much joy.
If we take anything from our experience of Pastor Jonathan, may it be the example of a life that is oriented to bless others, to love others.
And to follow God in obedience, even when that means making difficult decisions.
Here’s the thing about the church, about the family of God, about the people of God. Jonathan, Jan and Arleen and I are not the head of this church. No human ever has or ever will be. Christ is the head, the covering, the true Leader.
Jonathan and Arleen and Jan and I have had the incredible privilege to lead and serve this congregation. And what is Christian leadership?
It is servanthood: v7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
This was originally written to a community whose leaders had been martyred. Of course, this is not the case with us, mercifully.
The same Christ, who is the same yesterday and today and forever, goes before us. Yesterday reminds us of all that Christ has done. He has suffered and died for us. He rose again for us.
He has called each of us to faith. He has walked with us and talked to us and cared for us; he has picked us up when we have fallen; he has cleaned the miry clay off our faces and he is giving us hope in place of despair, dignity to replace our shame, and purpose and passion for life. He has transformed us and loved us to this very second.
Today reminds us of all that Christ is doing right now. His power over death, his triumph over evil, his glorious resurrection...all these things that Jesus accomplished are at work in us today.
The Apostle Paul recounts the reality of Christ in him. When he struggled with a thorn in his flesh and prayed for its removal, Paul records: “Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
As Paul says in Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you (is) the hope of glory”.
Today is hugely important in life. Today is when choose to serve the living God. Today is when we can get right with God.
When we can renew our love for Him. Paul said that he worked with Christ’s energy which worked powerfully in him. That energy is working in us. Strength for today and bright hope for....
The Future reminds us of God’s abiding presence throughout the rest of our lives and into eternity. He knows the future.
He knows the places we need to go as a congregation and he knows the places we need to go as individual followers of Christ. And his promises are sure.
Loss and change are never welcome. You and I will each struggle to come to terms with Jonathan‘s departure.
But we serve a God who is unchanging.
“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Revelation 1:17-18
The Lord Jesus Christ will always make His presence felt and wherever His glory rests, there we will find holy ground.. God will never leave or forsake you.
He will not abandon us. He will never let us down, never walk off or leave us”. Jesus is the same. Yesterday, today, and forever.
Prayer: Before the mountains were born, O God, or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
And you love this broken world and you heal our broken lives. You replace fear with courage and depression with unspeakable joy.
You turn us outward, to love our neighbour, to act justly and to love mercy and you turn us to you and teach us to walk humbly with you.
We lift our eyes up to You, O God, and we boldly proclaim your strength, Your love, and our determination to follow the living Christ into the future He prepares for us. In his matchless and glorious name we pray. Amen.
