“How does it taste?” If that isn’t the most asked question on cooking shows, I don’t know what is. What do you suppose is the most popular response to that question? “It tastes gross!” No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that response before. After all, if you’re good enough to have your own cooking show, I’m sure that whatever you make is going to be delicious. Of course that might not be the case if it was a foreign cooking show. For example if you were invited on to the set of a Japanese cooking show that was featuring natto, a sticky and rather smelly substance made of fermented soybeans, I’m pretty sure you would not be pleased with the meal you had to try. Natto is one of those foods you either love or hate. There’s no in between.
God’s Word is a lot like natto. You either love it or you hate it. That’s clear from the experience the Apostle Paul had in our text this morning. Some of the people Paul shared God’s Word with loved it, while others hated it. What about us? How does God’s Word taste to us? The way we answer this question will determine how we live our lives here, and where we will spend eternity.
After his conversion, the Apostle Paul’s life mission was to serve up God’s Word to as many people as possible. Today we catch up with Paul in Thessalonica, a bustling Greek city of 200,000. Upon arriving there, Paul went to the synagogue where he fed his listeners a steady of diet of what the Old Testament had to say about the promised Messiah. He no doubt began with the bitter teachings about sin. Perhaps Paul quoted Isaiah 59:2, 3: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.” No one likes it when their phone goes dead but that’s what they can expect to happen if they don’t pay their phone bill. In essence, that’s what’s happened to our relationship with God. Because of the lies we speak, because of the things we mutter under our breath about one another, because of our debt of sin, the phone line between God and us has been disconnected. We can pray to God all we want, but sin blocks our calls from getting through.
Of course that’s not the way God wants things to stand. He wants to be able to communicate and to commune with us. And so he promised to send the Messiah who would restore the broken connection. The prophet Isaiah spoke about that too when he said: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The Messiah restored the broken connection by paying our debt of sin. Would your phone company do that? Would it pay for damage you did to your phone line? In this day and age of customer service we may expect the phone company to do just that, and the phone company itself would want to get us back on line quickly so that we’ll use the phone again and generate business for them. But there was no such incentive for God to restore our broken relationship with him. He doesn’t need us. He can get along well without us and did so before he created the world. But in his love, and at great cost to himself, God restored the broken relationship by sending his Son who died on the cross for our sins.
Everything that Paul shared with the people in the synagogue at Thessalonica should have been well known to them. What they may not have known, however, was that the Messiah had come and that person was Jesus. When Paul shared that message, some loved the taste of God’s Word and embraced it, others hated it. Those who hated the Word gathered a mob to force Paul out of their city and to silence the teaching about Jesus.
It’s not surprising that many hate God’s Word so much. What is surprising is that anyone likes it. That’s because by nature we don’t like to hear that we can’t come to God on our own terms. We would much rather devour a “salvation” meal of our own making which says that as long as we acknowledge God and are decent people, we’ll get to heaven. But Friends, God doesn’t just want us to acknowledge him (even Satan does that), he wants us to admit that we have sinned and continue to sin, and that without his grace and love we are lost. God’s Word about our sin may be a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s a lot better than downing a homemade “salvation” meal that may taste good now but will lead to eternal indigestion.
Although the part of God’s Word that speaks about our sin may not taste very good, the bitterness dissipates quickly when we taste God’s forgiveness through Christ Jesus. In God’s message of forgiveness we have the only meal that quiets a growling guilty conscience. This is real “comfort” food as it assures us in time of trial that God has not abandoned us. How could he when he’s invested so much in winning our salvation?
Since God’s Word is great how do we treat it? Do we treat it like a coffee from Tim Horton’s? Is it just a quick Sunday pick-me-up to get us through the week? God’s Word certainly gives us a boost but it’s meant to be savored, not gulped in haste as we run from one worldly pursuit to another. The Bereans certainly didn’t treat God’s Word that way. Berea is the small town to which Paul fled after being run out of Thessalonica. There, Paul found people who daily carefully compared what he preached with God’s Word. Does making a daily careful study of God’s Word seem boring to you? Does it seem like eating the same meal day after day? Although the message about our sin and God’s salvation is the same throughout Scripture, it’s presented in so many different flavors and textures that it’s hardly boring. Sample a different part of the Word everyday and see what spice it adds to your life.
Those who love the taste of God’s Word know that it’s not a meal they can keep to themselves. That’s why Paul traveled all over the Mediterranean. He was intent on sharing the Word with as many people as possible. Does this mean that if we really love God’s Word, we too will travel all over the world to share it? No. Not many people who were converted to the faith in Thessalonica and Berea left their cities to tell others about Jesus. But their love for the Word led them to love and support those who did share the Word around the world. People like Jason invited Paul to stay in their home while he was in town. And even after Paul left, the Thessalonian Christians continued to support God’s work through their offerings. We do the same through our offerings. We use them to support work that goes on in other places. Do we sometimes think that that money could be better used here? Do we think that this money goes out never to return? An offering that was gathered at the recent Dakota-Montana District pastors’ conference says otherwise. In an email I received Thursday morning, Pastor Werre (from Mighty Fortress in Red Deer) writes: “This year the brothers [at conference] decided to send the [conference] offering to St. Peter’s. They did this because they are aware that your pastor and family are walking on a difficult path right now. They are also aware that you as a congregation are walking with them and supporting them. And so the pastors of our district wanted a way to show that they are walking together with you as well. This offering is a way to say that not just with words but with actions. The gift may be small ($600 U.S.) but the intention is very great. We hope you will use the offering for outreach work, something St. Peter’s has done so well. Know that your pastor and family and St. Peter’s congregation are being remembered in the prayers of many in our district.” Walking together under Christ, Pastor Jonathan Werre
What would move the pastors of our district to do something like this? Well do you know how you feel after a good meal? You feel cheerful and strengthened. That’s the way the pastors felt after feasting on God’s Word. They were strengthened in their faith and encouraged, and they wanted to pass that encouragement on to us.
God’s Word certainly does great things doesn’t it? Sure a lot of people still hate it, but I pray that we love the Word because we have tasted its sweetness and we know that it’s good for us. Keep eating it. Keep sharing it. Amen.
