Time and the task. Sun 2nd Jan 2005 pm .WBC
After the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26th Dec 2004
Luke 13:1-5 and Eph 3:1-21
FALL AND FRAILTY
Like me, shocked and pained by images on screen?
- but I want to say, this has strengthened to me why I am a Christian and not something else (more on point 2)
Dreadful! Perhaps made all the worse to us because Boxing day (time to imbibe the horror) and involves white people?
- but maybe that says something to us¡K and about our faith?
o How detached from the world, historic Christianity and the bible we have become
„X (individualistic)
Why are we surprised when things like this happen?
- do we think the Bible is only joking when it talks about a FALL?
- No- the Bible says that somehow a fall has happened and the world is a fallen place.
o The spirit world is, as well- in fact that¡¦s where it happened first (one of the main dangers in New Age is this belief that all is sweetness and light and you can just imbibe everything)
o War broke out in heaven and Satan and his hordes were kicked to earth
„X This happened before man was on the scene. So, to me, the world was partly like this before US
o Then man comes on the scene and the situation worsens. He who was put in charge of this place bows his knee to these fallen forces and the whole of the fabric of the world shakes and groans with the impact
„X And we, along with the world, long for release
I¡¦m sure the situation is far more complex than we can ever understand with our puny earth-bound minds
- so we are told all that we need to know or can understand by way of a story with fruit and snakes. It¡¦s truth. And it tells us:
o the world: physical and spiritual is fallen
o people need to come back to God because they have ¡¥eaten what the fruit symbolises¡¦ (our way rather than God¡¦s) and suffered the consequences
„X it¡¦s a cosmic, global and individual story and truth
So- this event should not surprise us. It¡¦s there in the Bible. There are examples like it in the Bible
- and Jesus does not seek to apportion individual blame or guilt
o neither should we (ie one area hit was an Al Kaida powerbase. One of the Islands in the Nocobar/Andaman archipelago was 90% Christian!)
- He does tell the man in Jn 5 that his sickness is part of his sinful, bad attitude. But wrt the Tower of Siloam and Jn 9 the man born blind: no!
Do you see how detached from Biblical Christianity we¡¦ve become?
- and so these things shock us when they happen
- but truth is they have ALWAYS happened (are not necc. Part of the ¡¥signs of the immanent end¡¦. ¡§These things will continue until the end¡K but do not be disturbed¡¨
So: are we the kind of Christian who thinks ¡¥these things are okay and my faith is okay when I don¡¦t know about them¡K and they don¡¦t affect me. But if they happen and, unfortunately, I am unable to stick my head in the sand quick enough then my faith is in jeopardy?¡¦
God still exists and is still love. Jesus is still Lord (particularly!) and the sacrificial lamb. It¡¦s still true (and if we really know the truth it¡¦s the only one that offers a consolation, I believe)
It¡¦s strange: Christians were never like this in history. This is a recent blight. It would have been unheard of for people to lose their faith because a parent dies (for example)
- this is truth! And I¡¦m not unsympathetic to their circumstances- how did you lose your faith? When mum died? How old? 85? Painful? No: peaceful.
- Says more of psychology than spirituality
How disconnected from reality have we become?!
- listen. If all goes well and we avoid all the possible things that could happen either Pam or I are going to wake up one morning next to a cold body or alone
Before her death in 1997, Jeanne Calment was the oldest living human whose age could be verified by official documentation. This remarkable French lady claimed she owed her longevity to chocolate, olive oil, and port wine. On her one hundred and twentieth birthday celebration, someone asked Ms. Calment, "What is your vision of the future?"
With a twinkle in her eye, Ms. Calment replied, "Very brief.
- and it¡¦s the same for all of us, really
I, you, we all are going to die!
- and dying as a Christian is not a tragedy: as this is NOT all there is!
- ¡§If only for this life we have hope we are to be pitied above all men!!¡¨
And it makes the task of taking Christ to the world¡K and our calling all the more urgent. Oh gosh! People need the Lord!
- and we need to tell them before our¡Kor their¡K time runs out!
CHRIST AND THE CROSS
And let me tell you the answer
- I can¡¦t find it in the theology of those who say ¡¥well it¡¦s Inch Allah¡¦
o It¡¦s just the will of God
- I¡¦m not satisfied by those who say ¡§well there may be a God¡K probably is¡K but He¡¦s just left us to get on with it and in the meantime we must rid ourselves of desire and seek to restore the Yin and Yang balance of this world and in our lives¡¨
- I can¡¦t find it in the thoughts of those well-wishing people who believe there was a good man, a son of God even, who died on a cross
But if God comes to earth, Himself¡K as a vulnerable pink Jewish baby and subjects Himself to all the crap and abuse this fallen world and people have to offer¡K and then dies taking it ALL
- that I can follow. That person I can follow. (that¡¦s what being a Christian is). The God of Jesus Christ I can worship and love
o God, in Christ, took His own medicine (actually, that¡¦s wrong terminology- as He didn¡¦t cause the sickness or the results). But GOD entered into this
„X And that offers me some consolation in the mystery of all that I DON¡¦T understand.
And I want to follow Him
He is good. Loving. He intervened in time: and, in time, He will intervene again to stop the suffering
- either when He comes or calls
Where was God on boxing day? On the cross bearing the pain. Weeping with them
- and telling us to get off our butts and go out and live as though this message is true and that Christ actually died for a purpose!
o And didn¡¦t die in vain. And didn¡¦t die just for you or me!
TIME AND THE TASK
And here¡¦s the other part of the story of the fall: God provided a way back
- and here¡¦s why I chose the Eph 3 passage
When folks say: ¡§where is the glory of God, now¡¨. And ¡§what difference can I make¡¨
- Eph 3:10 ¡§His intent was that now, through the CHURCH, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known¡K to ALL¡¨
We are to show the glory, love and compassion of God
- Christians are to be¡K and ARE¡K the first there
What are you going to be remembered for? How long do you have?
- well, go and DO something with your life NOW
- offer it to God and go and change the world! Make a difference
„X you may not be here in a year¡¦s time!
But realise there is no magic, here- but where lives are offered to God miracles DO happen.
- And it¡¦s hard work!
Illustr: the Christians of ~275 AD. Xianity still outlawed. Plague. Xians identified themselves as people relatives could be left with while others fled the plague. In so doing they became targets of the Romans¡K AND died of plague.
- but Christianity became the world force¡K and within 50 years there was the first Christian emperor
Illustr: Revivals of Wesley, Whitfield mid 1700¡¦s. Great work. Often told they single-handedly reversed decline and stopped a revolution. It¡¦s not the whole story. They only sowed the seeds. Nation and church was just as bad at end of 18C as start of it.
- but then the social reformers came: Wilberforce etc. He gave his life to Christ and devoted the whole of it to making a difference (plates). Only as he DIED did he receive the news ¡¥slavery has been abolished¡¦
But through the work of these Christians the world was changed. IS being changed
- by Him who is able to do ¡¥exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or imagine¡¦
o and that¡¦s why Paul prays that we may be able to grasp this
„X because then we will go out and LIVE it
But- there is no room for sentimentality. You¡K we¡Kmight die trying! The harvest might come after we¡¦ve sowed the seeds and died.
- after Clive Houghton passes on
- after my friend Jeremy is martyred???
The ship is safe in the harbour- but that is not what ships are built for.
Sentimentality won¡¦t see you through! You¡¦ll have compassion fatigue in no time and wonder why God has left you when you catch flu!
- but the Spirit will. And the call of God. And sensible, well thought out reasoned response
o that is planned to make you burn on¡K and bear fruit¡K rather than burn out
- and a knowledge of just what a difference one life handed over to God can make
"Many Christians estimate difficulties in the light of their own resources, and thus attempt little and often fail in the little they attempt. All God¡¦s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence with them." (J. Hudson Taylor)
- Illustr: like Rob Lacey
The time is short and God calls us to a task. A high calling.
- a calling to FOLLOW Him. To be committed. To make a difference.
