INTRODUCTION, PT. 1

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

On Sunday we began (at last) a new “pseries”: PSERMONS ON THE PSALMS. This book of the Bible is a challenge to introduce, apart from the fact that it is the largest book in scripture. It has a breadth of range, whether authorship or historical chronology, whether themes or subjects, whether moods or tones, whether literary features or theological meaning. My goal on Sunday was to give you a feel for this variety and diversity and hopefully some helpful tools for the study of their meaning. Early on I quoted Walter Brueggemann, a prolific scholar of the psalms: “The Psalms are a centerpiece of Christian liturgy, piety and spirituality. They have been so from the beginning of the Christian movement for good reason. They have been found poignant in expression, able to empower believing imagination in many ways. This is evident in the rich usage made of the psalms in the New Testament, most especially in the passion of Jesus. But the use of the psalms by Christians is not without awkwardness, for the psalms are relentlessly Jewish in their mode of expression and their faith claims. And with our best intent for generosity and good faith, the different nuances of Jewish and Christian faith are not to be overlooked or easily accommodated.” Brueggemann’s statement is a useful springboard for some necessarily obvious introductory comments. Yes, the Psalms are indeed “relentlessly Jewish.” The psalms constitute Israel’s Prayer Book, known as the “sefer tehillim”, the Book of Praise. To Christians, they are the indispensable Psalms, from the Greek “psalmos” meaning a song sung to a stringed instrument, the translation used in the Greek version of the OT, read by the early church community.

I’m going to give you some of the lists that I put up on powerpoint so you have a record of them in case you were unable to take notes. Also, attached to this email is an article that will elaborate on some of the important principles of interpretation that we need when studying the psalms.

Structure:

• BOOK 1: 1-41

• BOOK 2: 42-72

• BOOK 3: 73-89

• BOOK 4: 90-106

• BOOK 5: 107-150

Some general movements:

• Spiritual movement

• Historical movement

• Emotional movement

Genres:
Hymns; Laments; Imprecations; Penitence; Thanksgivings; Confidence; Remembrance; Wisdom and Instruction; Celebration.

Essentially, of course, the Psalms are all about who God is.

• Because He is CREATOR and we are creatures we just cannot live anyway we like.

• Because He is HOLY and we are sinners, we cannot just come to Him anyway we like.

• They are all about the covenantal love relationship between God and His people.

Some of the main themes/subjects (Bonhoeffer’s schemetaics)
Creation; The Law and Word; Holy History; The Messiah; The people of God; The life of faith; Suffering; Guilt; Enemies; The end of things

Principles of interpretation:

1. Read a psalm in its context

2. Identify the genre

3. Note the poetic structure and literary devices (they are poems!)

4. Examine and unpack images and metaphors

5. Read psalm in light of its title where relevant

6. Check out its theological meaning

7. Consider how it relates to Jesus Christ

8. Meditate on ways psalm speaks to you

9. Deal with difficult expressions and experiences

10. Apply! Learning, loving, living.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to finish the introduction so that was Intro Part1. We covered more of the “Jewishness” aspects: the Psalms in relation to Israel; the Psalms in relation to other psalms; the Psalms in relation to key themes and subjects; the Psalms in relation to principles of interpretation.

In our next session, Intro Part 2, we will focus specifically on the Christian usage and relationship to the psalms, making comments on: the Psalms in relation to the New Testament; the Psalms in relation to Jesus; the Psalms in relation to the church; the psalms in relation to…US… to ME!

Then we will look briefly at the introduction to the collection that comes at the very beginning, Psalms 1 and 2, which set us up for what is to come. Don’t forget your homework and be sure to read these two psalms before our next session. If you can spend a little time meditating on them that would be excellent.

It’s not surprising, is it, that Athanasius would describe the Psalms as “an epitome of the whole scriptures” or that Luther would describe the collection as “a little Bible and the summary of the OT.” Another commentator has observed: “It includes illustrations of every religious truth which it is necessary for us to know.” I think you got the idea that there was going to be no shortage of possible content. I invite you to join me over the next few months and see where they lead us. I certainly know who they will lead us to, as they will source our learning, inspire our loving, equip our living, and tutor and nurture our leading through the holy direction of our wills that choose to obey the statutes of the Lord. And don’t forget, we are all expecting to become psalm-makers, so get that journal! It would be wonderful to end this “pseries” with a public reading and singing of Christ Our Shepherd’s new Psalm collection.

Pastorally yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

WISDOM PT. 2

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

Last Sunday I tried to complete my unfinished message from the previous Sunday and I still did not manage to “close the deal”! How longsuffering you all are! (I think! I hope?) I spent a little time talking about the book of James in the context of the message’s encouragement to us all to pursue wisdom. James is in the great tradition of what we call biblical Wisdom Literature. It is as close to a NT commentary on the book of Proverbs as you will get. Because James’ letter is all about wisdom, it is not surprising that it is absolutely soaked, suffused, veritably stuffed with the scriptures. Scholars have carefully annotated the text, and whether by direct reference or allusion, can relate James’ teaching and commentary to: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi. Why is James wise himself? Because he breathes and thinks scripture. It flows through his communication with an indiscriminate, unself-consciousness, spraying truth and spewing wisdom wherever he goes. He is not quoting verses like a know-it-all, chalking up his apostolic credentials, but simply oozing truth through his pastoral passion. I’m reminded of Spurgeon’s exhortation to his students to study the Word until their very blood was bibline!

I wonder where James got that from? Listening to the apostles use of scripture takes us into that inner sanctum where Jesus, post-resurrection, “explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.” (Lk.24:27) But may I remind you of Jesus’ words that prompted his exegesis of the scriptures? “He said to them, How foolish you are!” What did these fools need? The wisdom of the scriptures, and Jesus obliged them.

Would we be censured any less by Jesus for our foolishness? If our relationship with God’s word, and our love for it and obedience to it are any measure, where are we between folly and wisdom? How integrated are we? Would we be chided by Jesus any less for our abject lack of embroilment with the scripture? Do not the statutes of the Lord yet “make wise the foolish”? (Ps.19:7) The point is that James was nurtured by Jesus’ words and Jesus’ words were the words of scripture. So without laboring the point, note that connection, the integration, between the wisdom of God and the Word of God.

The fact is that James was intimate with a wise trinity. His personal life was integrated with the trinity and the relationships between Father, Son and Spirit.

With the “only wise God” of Roms.16:27, the God to whom all wisdom belongs (Job 12:13)

With Jesus, who became for us, wisdom, who is our wonderful counselor, of whom they asked in Mt.13:54 “where did this man get this wisdom from?” How subversively and infectiously wonderful is it that his disciples would provoke the same questions after his ascension! “They were unschooled ordinary men… and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

With the Holy Spirit, the “spirit of wisdom” of Isaiah 11:1-3. Did not Jesus promise his disciples that the Father would give them another counselor (another source of wisdom), even “the Spirit of truth.” (Jn.14:17) “Ask that God may give you the Spirit of wisdom” writes Paul to the Ephesians. (1:17) We must heed what scripture teaches about the mind without the Spirit. This is why Romans 8 is so crucial here. Having prepared your message on the relationship between wisdom and the word, now you need the non-negotiable message about the relationship between wisdom and the Spirit. Remember Stephen in Acts 6:3, described as “full of the Spirit and wisdom”. What integration, what integrity. Should we then be surprised that a few verses later in 6:8 he is described as “full of grace and power”. None of these can be separated. You cannot be big into doctrines of grace without being big into the work of the Spirit. You cannot separate wisdom from power.

It is not ultimately your attendance at this church that will improve your integrity or further the integra-tion of heart and mind, but the attentiveness you give to the personality of the Godhead. It is not so much about your fellowship with others in this church, as good as that is, but all about being in fellowship with the trinity: God as your Father, Jesus as your fellow, the Spirit as your filler: God only wise, Christ the wisdom of God, and the Spirit of wisdom.

It is impossible to treat James’ letter as if it is a functional manual of “do’s and don’ts.” The wisdom extolled here is no less than a mighty and brilliant manifestation of the Holy Spirit. One theologian has described it as “wisdom pneumatology”. Wisdom is totally charismatic, though you’d be hard-pushed to believe that given the silliness and stupidity, fleshliness and foolishness that is so often presented in conjunction with much that is called charismatic ministry or behavior! It is understanding this relationship between the Spirit and wisdom that makes sense of his descriptions of spiritual wisdom in chapter 3, that reads like a list of the fruits of the Spirit. (“pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy…righteous”) I’m suggesting why James is a wise man, who is qualified to write about wisdom. It isn’t that he had a better handle on the rules for good living, on the rubric, but that he was intimately related with God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the NT, wisdom, as in the Hebrew understanding of wisdom in the OT, is not about theoretical or academic theological insight. It is all about a loving, willing, submissive, obedient adherence to God’s word. It is related to understanding God’s declared plans and purposes and determining to do them, and actually doing them. Did not Jesus himself say, “Wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Mt.11:19) Here is the dominical requirement of integrity between what is learned and what is lived, between acquired knowledge and applied knowledge. The Jewish view of wisdom is utterly God-centered. It’s first all about knowing God’s purposes, not negotiating the world’s problems.

Hopefully you have already gleaned enough to begin to understand James better before we even look at his specific exhortation. How could Luther, with all respect, get it so wrong about this book that he called “an epistle of straw.” I’m sure he and James have sorted it out by now, and Luther has confessed that he was not the first one, in Jeremiah’s words, to confuse straw with grain! The fact is that the letter of James is not a polemic about faith versus works. It is primarily about wisdom that is demonstrated in a faith that works: the wisdom of faith that discerns and accepts God’s will, and the wisdom of action that does God’s work. Wisdom is demonstrated in the speaking of God’s words and the living out of God’s ways.

Obviously, I did not have time for a detailed study of James’ text. However, there is a macro contextual point that will help you understand why the need for wisdom is such a big deal for James – and guess where he got it from – yes, the book of Proverbs, but more importantly, from Jesus himself. I would argue that James’ letter is a strategic “last days” book, given its urgency, intensity and catholicity. The reason it is all about wisdom is because it is all about the dangers of deception. He wants to know how we are going to discern in a day of deception, when the foundations of personal faith, of churches, of so-called Christian institutions are hit by the tsunami of anti-Christ. Proverbs 14:8 says: “The folly of fools is deception.” So if you are deceived, you are a fool, whatever you are deceived about. It is a fool who says in his heart there is no God. It is a fool, according to Proverbs, who will embrace illicit sexuality. You could sum up James’ appeal in the oft-repeated refrain “Do not be deceived.” (1:16) It is no wonder then that he begins his epistle with the necessary prior appeal for wisdom from God. “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God.” (James 1:5) Look what happened to Solomon when he asked! Particularly in a context when faith is being tested and under trial, when things aren’t making sense, when survival seems difficult; when events yield no purpose and energy yields no perseverance; when the natural response to trying circumstances would be to consider it jeopardy or maybe judgment but certainly not joy. Without wisdom in such times, wrong decisions, wrong discernments, wrong departures are possible. James is essentially a volume of Fool’s wisdom, and by fool I mean the “fool for Christ” the holy fool. As many of you asked for the outline I gave on Sunday I am including it with this letter. Listen to his appeal against deception:

• 1:1-18 – don’t be deceived about
ο trials: to develop not destroy
ο treasures: transitory not trustworthy
ο temptations: our desire not God’s design

• 1:19-27 – don’t be deceived about true religion
ο not just hearing but doing
ο not just thinking about it but truly knowing
ο not formal obedience but faithful obedience ο not our words but God’s word

• 2:1-13 – don’t be deceived about people
ο judging by appearances
ο showing favoritism
ο being unmerciful

• 2:14-26 – don’t be deceived about true faith
ο professing without producing
ο declaring much but doing nothing

• 3:1-12 – don’t be deceived about your communication
ο small sparks start big fires
ο praising God and cursing others

• 3:13-18 – don’t be deceived about true wisdom
ο heavenly or earthly?
ο Holocaust of evil or harvest of righteousness?

• 4:1-17 – don’t be deceived about your desires
ο your willfulness or His will?
ο Resisting evil or resorting to it?
ο Friend of the world or enemy of God? ο Single-hearted or double-minded?

• 5:1-6 – don’t be deceived about stuff
ο what you hoard (wealth) vs. what God hears (cries of unpaid workers)
ο godly use vs. greedy abuse

• 5:7-11 – don’t be deceived about time
ο our waiting – His coming
ο patience not presumption

You’ll have to download the message for the rest of the points. I spoke about the necessity to ASK FOR WISDOM (exhortations to pray are the bookend of James). I also spoke about the need for wisdom in order to DISCERN THE TIMES, without which, you will not be able to DISCERN THE STEWARDSHIP AND USE OF YOUR PERSONAL TIME. “Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephs. 5:15-17)

Pastorally yours,
Stuart

P.S. Thank you to the sweet person who asked me if I’d carry on with this as a series!

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

WISDOM PT. 1

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dear Church Family,

Stuart began a message this Sunday that he will complete this coming weekend. He spoke on the subject of wisdom and how crucial it is for us in the days we live in. In light of the coming tumult and the tyranny of the Beast of Revelation 13, the Apostle John warns us in 13:8, “This calls for wisdom.” John implores us like Solomon from Proverbs 4:7, “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

You can listen to part one of Stuart’s message on the web, but in the meantime before part two, it would be good to read and meditate on Proverbs 2 and the book of James (described by some as commentary on the book of Proverbs).

Rich blessings to you this week,
Ben

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

INTRODUCTION

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

So wonderful to have such a full church on Sunday at this time of year. I just love Sunday mornings with my spiritual family! Well, we launched the new “Summer Series” which doesn’t really have a name except that. Maybe we can call it “Stories from Faithbook – Hebrews 11 continued!” Maybe not! I made some comments on the Hebrews 11 text to orient you to what you need to be listening for, looking for in this series; to prepare you for what you should be expecting to apprehend and apply; to convince you as to why the study of other holy lives is so important for our own growth in grace, and for our encouragement and edification. We noted the context of these compacted biographies of saints. Christians are being addressed in this Hebrews, whose lives are under great pressure from surrounding culture. The daily context of their lives requires endurance in some shape or form. The section immediately preceding this list of heroes of faith is a call to persevere, a call to be confident in the face of subversive influences, a call to stand your ground in the face of suffering. Chapter 10 issues a strong appeal to the community of faith in troubled times and the focus is not on just a few famous spiritual individuals but on everyone in the community: “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full, assurance of faith…Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful…Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing…Let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the day approaching…” (10:22-25) Something is going on here that is about us, so when the writer goes straight into this summer series of biographical studies, he is clearly assuming that the fruit of these stories is going to strengthen US, the community of faith – the US! The writer tells us: “Do not throw away your confidence…You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what he promised…” Then he quotes the great rallying scripture that became the transforming revelation of the Reformation that changed the history of the church and the world in the sixteenth century: “My righteous one will live by faith” (Hab. 2:3-4). So presumably, the purpose of these biographical cameos that follow has something to do with encouragement, with fueling our perseverance in our present circumstances, with boosting our spiritual confidence, with fortifying us, with strengthening our hope, with provoking our faithful actions, with increasing our expectations, with convincing us that we can indeed live by faith in a cultural context that constantly induces fear. Welcome then to a series biblically custom-designed to do all this. It is a way to call every one of US to renewed faithful endurance but also to courageous actions of faith. My favorite verse in chapter 11 is not actually about a particular individual who is singled out but it is v.29: “by faith the people passed through the Red Sea…” There is no question about Moses’ heroics of faith – the text is explicit and complimentary about them, but as a result of his example, something had been transmitted to the people. It wasn’t just his biography – it was now their story. It wasn’t about HIM but US!

The preface to our COSC series should be no different to the preface to the series of biographical presentations in chapter 11.What these stories are going to illustrate is the nature of faith experienced by ordinary people who are called to endure, and in the process, achieve great things for God against the prevailing current of evil and opposition. The first three verses tell us what to look for in the lives of those who are going to be presented to us this summer.

1. They obeyed God’s commanding word for their lives and circumstances;

2. They received God’s commending approval;

3. They believed in God’s creative power to do the extraordinary. Faith gave shape and content to things that had not yet been actuated.

Faith reached beyond the edge of normal human experience. This was not just about seeing beyond the end of their nose, which is difficult at best for most of us, but seeing beyond the horizon. This was a faith that was not just about things in the future but about things in the future that were beyond reasonable expectation.

Now let’s be honest. Any time we have to listen to the stories of the great heroes of faith there is an immediate problem: we elevate them to a league of spirituality that we will never engage or enjoy. We distance ourselves from them. They are unique, they are exceptional, they are so spiritual, they are chosen, they are anointed – but me? Did you read my T-shirt? “I’m a zero not a hero!” Compared to their miraculous and effective stories, we are ordinary, average. The whole point of these biographies in chapter 11 is not to convince us that we are not them, or could never be like them. On the contrary, the point is that the life of faith is utterly normal. As someone has commented, it is what Lewis called “mere” Christianity. The stories of these people challenge how we see the world and ourselves. This life of faith is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience but a daily one, it is our default, it is our constant posture and position in relation to circumstance, in relation to present and future. The stories you will hear, like these Hebrews 11 accounts, are meant to break the accustomed ways we just live in sync with the world around us, disturb the ways we have become acclimated to little expectation, little results, little hope. These stories have arms and hands that reach out to us and grab our lackluster sense of purpose by the neck, and throw us into this same roll-call of faith with a recovered sense of our calling and gifting and ministry and personal history. It is unsettling to be reminded by these stories of those who are certain of what they do not see, and consequently to be confronted by just how much our lives are conditioned and influenced by what is seen. The life of faith is reduced to a surprising interlude in an otherwise material existence.

But what is also unsettling is that all these so-called heroes of faith seemed to have flaws. Maybe that’s comforting. It certainly lets me reapply. Someone has put it like this: “These are heroes not because they are perfect but because they worked with God in his perfect work.” The text says that these were ordinary folk: “whose weakness was turned to strength” (11:34). So they began weak, not strong. It wasn’t their strength that got them to where they ended up. Have you examined this list of biographies in chapter 11? Really? Is God helping his publicity by holding these guys up as the ones to emulate? Wasn’t Rahab a Gentile prostitute and hardly inducted into proven discipleship?! And wasn’t Gideon fearful? And wasn’t Barak the one who wouldn’t do what the Lord told him unless he had a woman, Deborah, keep him company? And didn’t Samson know a girl called Delilah, and David one called Bathsheba, and Abraham one called Hagar? And wasn’t Jephthah plain hasty and a little arrogant? And didn’t Isaac lie and didn’t Jacob deceive? And didn’t Moses murder a guy? Isn’t the hall of faith’s fame more like the Hall of failure’s shame? And yet, despite the flaws and weaknesses, they made some decisions and discoveries, and they ended up featuring on God’s approval ratings and their example “still speaks” the text says. Speaks what? What do the lives of those we study and consider speak to us? That is what you’ve got to decide every week of this series. What is God still speaking to me through them, who though dead perhaps, like Abel, still speak. Does not Abel still speak to us about the way that what we offer to God publicly must be concordant with what is true in our hearts? Does not Enoch still speak of the way that God will respond to those that seek him and walk with him? Does not Noah still speak about how God will deliver someone who hears and obeys regardless of cultural responses: someone who will live pure in a promiscuous culture; someone who will be generous in an economic downturn?

The biography of Abraham here was referred to in the “Finding Father” series. As our father in the faith, we are given an insight into what we can learn from his life. When God called him, and spoke to him, he obeyed. God said “Go…and Abram went.” (Gen. 12:1-4) We learn about the trustworthy authority, power and reliability of God’s word. We learn that the life of faith has a price tag, a cost. He left his “father’s house” and lived the rest of his life in a tent with no fixed abode. We learn that faith requires patience and courage, because even when he got to Canaan the promise was not fulfilled. We learn that faith perseveres and that the life of faith is utterly dependent on God to do what he does best – raise us from our death. These are just ordinary people trusting in God’s extraordinary work. I believe that you are going to learn something each week from these better known examples of Christian achievement in God’s world. There are at least four areas of important interest:

1. Their experience of God

2. Their example of character

3. Their expectation of faith

4. Their exploits of courage and perseverance

May you be able to make their story your own, week after week as you apply God’s truth in them to your own life and circumstances. But don’t forget that nameless roll-call, those “others” (v35), that company of the unknowns. Because that includes you!

By faith…
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

A FATHER'S ENCOURAGEMENT

Dearest family,

On Sunday we “finished” the “Finding Father” series only because time ran out on us, but I ended by trying to stress the crucial importance of fatherly encouragement. One of the passages we looked at was Hebrews 12, a passage that has been one of the main texts for the men’s ministry this year and your theme of “perseverance.” We noted that what is presented is a realistic picture of what most Christian communities, just like ours, face in the course of daily living in a culture that is utterly antagonistic to faith. This is not a stroll in the park, but a race, and the word used here implies conflict and potential pain. It is translated as “sufferings” in Phils. 1:30; as “strivings” in Cols. 2:1; as “opposition” in 2 Thess. 2:2; as “fight” in 1 Tim. 6:12. We looked at the number of descriptions of what are very debilitating circumstances and pressures:

ο Hindered (v1): bogged down, cluttered, no freedom of movement, feeling confined, carrying baggage and weights that interfere with forward progress;
ο Entangled (v1): tripped up, even little disorders that cause stumbling;
ο Unfocused (v2): unsynchronized eyes, a wandering eye, not fixed on what it should be;
ο Shamed (v2): maybe by the present situation, by present struggles, by present evaluation of life and prospects, by past decisions and mistakes;
ο Dejected (v3): losing heart, beaten down, disappointment like a dripping tap;
ο Fatigued (v3-4): the struggle against temptation and sin, continual resistance takes its toll and is wearying – it is part of the cost of obedience;
ο Troubled (v7): hardships keep pressing in and it seems that there are more opposing circumstances than enabling ones;
ο Indisciplined (v7): always intending to but never intentional, spiritually slovenly;
ο Weak (v12): exaggerated sense of worthlessness, and inability, loss of self-value;
ο Stumbling (v13): difficulty in standing firm in one’s commitments and convictions, not walking in the right paths;
ο Bitter (v15): undealt with roots of bitterness and offence that feed ingrained responses of anger toward God and others that corrupts the soul and defiles others close to you;
ο Impure (v16): polluting the streams of personhood with unholy sexuality.

How depressing is all this? How discouraging? Are you kidding me! The last chapter ended: “God had planned something better for us!” (11:40) So what hope is there? Right in the middle of all this we read: ”You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons…God is treating you as sons… For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined then you are illegitimate children and not true sons…” (vs.5-8) What this situation of challenge and pressure and despondency most needs is the encouragement of the father. And that is exactly what is given. The encouragement is actually the perspective about what is really going on, that is not in fact going to bring them down but build them up. This truth crucially qualifies our understanding of “perseverance”. It is so easy to see perseverance as something that is going to be mainly determined by the right decisions we make, and the way we choose to hang in there, stay obedient, not let go, push through, resolve not to give up. Now it is not that there is truth in that. It’s not just the whole picture. The text says that it is not our “grit and grind” that makes for the perseverance, but the fact that we understand the following:
i. That the circumstances that seem unco-operative with my well-being are the very context in which Father God is training us to be like Him. Even Jesus was not exempt from this. Earlier in Hebrews (5:8) we read “Although he was a son he learned obedience from what he suffered.” In other words, endurance and perseverance is in fact a sign of true sonship. That’s what sons do. They persevere. Why?
ii. Because they understand that as sons they choose to “submit to the Father of our spirits.” (v9) The last words before those I just read to you from 5:8 described Jesus the son’s “reverent submission.” This is basically talking about God as our spiritual father. And what good fathers do best is train their sons and daughters in character and in wisdom. And what good sons do is submit to their love and nurture. Perseverance is only possible and understandable when we understand that the motivation behind it is all about relating to the love and will of the father. There will be no joy or comprehension in perseverance that does not get this. It cannot be sustained by an orphan, a slave or an illegitimate. If there is no assurance of God’s fathering of us, then we have no security about the outcomes.
iii. Talking of outcomes. We need to understand and accept the father’s intent in the circumstances he chooses, or allows to train us. The text is clear: “…for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” In other words, be just like dad. The text says he is treating us as his sons and daughters. The text states the reality: the training does not seem pleasant at the time, and it is really painful. There’s no point in saying it doesn’t hurt. It really does. It’s not about putting a brave face on it, but about bringing the reality of our feeble arms and weak knees, and all the other disabilities to the healing encouragement of the father.

We need to admit that the nature of difficulties in our lives and circumstances, the things that require perseverance of us, can have an adverse effect. , in making They can precipitate two things:
1. faithlessness: making us want to throw in the towel or wave the white flag.
2. hardness of heart: in the process of having to tough-it-out we actually become tough, we become hard which maybe expressed or manifested in many different ways like numbness, disengagement, unresponsiveness, cynicism.

It’s therefore interesting that a few chapters earlier, in 3:13, we are told to “encourage one another daily”. Why? So that we will be like jesus the son who was “faithful to the one who appointed him… faithful as a son over God’s house…” then later “so that none of you will be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” In other words, encouragement is the powerful spiritual antidote to both faithlessness and hardness. Encouragement is the infuser of courage when faithfulness is challenged. The text says that like Jesus the son, we are part of the Father’s house, “if we hold on to our courage” or in other words, stay encouraged by the father, as Jesus was. Encouragement is the powerful softening agent if you like, of the hardness that is the natural by-product of all those things we listed at the beginning. Isn’t it amazing! Encouragement, to be encouraged, is literally to be filled with courage. So it is encouragement that is the gift that keeps us faithful as sons, even as Jesus was, as a son, and the gift of the father that keeps us soft-hearted amidst hard circumstances.

Have you known the encouragement of the Father recently? Have you asked for it? Have you received it?

Encouragingly yours,

Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

ABRAHAM - PART 2

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dearest family,

Last Sunday we continued our observations about the ways that Abraham is our “father” in the faith. The basis for Paul’s teaching about how and why we are sons and daughters of Abraham, is grounded in Jesus’ teaching. This is what I spent most of the time on last message. Jesus is already identifying traits of Abraham that will be evident in true sons of Abraham, and thus true sons of God:

• Jesus said “do the things that Abraham did” (Jn.8:39) God himself is specific about what these things were in Gen. 26:5, “Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees, my laws.” To put it simply, he welcomed God’s word and walked in it. Jesus is arguing that if they were true offspring they would have the characteristics of the father. If they shared the same parentage as Jesus the son, then they would love the same things. But they didn’t so they weren’t.
• Jesus mentions another mark of true sonship in the words of 8:46 “He who belongs to God hears what God says.” Did you ever turn a deaf ear to your parents when they called or commanded? Was your hearing ever selective? Did you engage that kind of deceit? True spiritual sons do not close their ears. You can understand why Jesus’ opening parable deals almost exclusively with hearing. “He who has ears to hear let him hear.” It is actually a sonship parable. As a listening and obedient son himself, Jesus knew that if the Father’s words were not listened to, or were overcome by the birds of the air, and the thorns and the rocks of interference, then the relationship with His Father that he desired for all to have, would be impossible.

Paul concludes in Romans 4 that the key issue is not about the physical family of Abraham but the spiritual faith of Abraham that then defines the family. Now we have it. Here is the key mark of father Abraham that will be the disposition of those who are his sons in the faith, that’s you and me. Let me review, from the text, a few of the constituent elements of this faith that are ours as sons and daughters. Twice the spiritual fatherhood of Abraham is emphasized: “He is the father of us all…He is our father in the sight of God…” (Roms.4: 17) And lest someone says that this is only applicable to the Jews he was addressing, sandwiched between those two statements we read: “I have made you a father of many nations” which affirms what has already been said in v11: “so he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” So what is it about Abraham as a spiritual father that will be characteristic of you and me, his spiritual sons and daughters, his “offspring” (4:13, 16, 18) as Paul describes us. We began to observe and apply four things:
1. The persuasion of faith: “…being fully persuaded…” (v21)
2. The person of faith: “…in the sight of God, in whom he believed…”
3. The promise of faith: “I have made you…” (v17)
4. The provision of faith: “Gives life to the dead…calls things that are not as though they were…” (v17)

The text says that Abraham is our father. Does our sonship and daughterhood bear his DNA? Are we sons and daughters who have a persuasion of faith? Are we sons and daughters who are persuaded about the person of faith, about the utterly trustworthy character of the Father, who is not an absent parent of a spiritual latch-key child? Are we sons and daughters who are persuaded about the promise of faith that guarantees our position at the Father’s table? Are we sons and daughters who are persuaded about the provision of faith? Did not Jesus say, “O ye of little faith…your heavenly Father knows that you need them” (Mt. 6:32)? What’s your “them” list? Isn’t that Jesus’ version of Abraham’s “things that are not” list?

We then looked briefly at Genesis 22 where we read of that testing of Abraham’s faith and obedience in the offering of his “one and only” son Isaac. It is this faithful obedience of Abraham that is presented on three specific occasions in the NT to give us an understanding of what our faith as sons and daughters will look like if we have been truly spiritually fathered. As sons and daughters we will be obedient. We cannot be obedient without faith. At the very end of Romans Paul tells us that the proclamation of the gospel is for the obedience of faith. The NT writers uses Gen.22 and interpret it to help us know how sons and daughters can make every day a Father’s Day. Abraham is our father in the faith. Faith marks the DNA of the sons and daughters.

THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH (Romans 8:32) – “He who did not spare his only son but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” This is taken directly from the language of Gen.22. Paul is concerned to assure us that our Father is for us. Things like indwelling sin, the unbelieving world, the devil and all his works, are bad enough without feeling that God is somehow against us. Paul is arguing that without a shadow of a doubt we can know our Father by the same name that Abraham did, Jehovah Jireh. Father God’s covenant commitment to us has been demonstrated in that he did the greater thing – he spared not his own son but gave him up for us. Thus he can do the lesser thing – provide us all we need to secure us safe passage in this life and our final salvation. Jesus was not taken from God, but God gave him up. As one saint said, “Who delivered Jesus up to die? Not Judas for money; not Pilate for fear; not the Jews for envy; but the Father for love.” The offering of the Father of Christ is the guarantee that we are now covered and cannot be abandoned. That sacrifice is the guarantee of the Father’s continuing care and generosity. This is the basis of our assurance of faith.
THE ANTICIPATION OF FAITH (Hebrews 11: 17-19) – “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did bring Isaac back from the dead.” Though bewildered, Abraham believed and refused to set limits either on his obedience or God’s trustworthiness. Despite the awfulness of what he was facing, his faith in God anticipated what God could do, on two different levels. First, on a personal level, he grasped the promises and word of God and knew that God could not lie, so even if Isaac was reduced to a pile of ashes, God would raise him from the dead! But Hebrews also tells us that he was “looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder was God.” So his faith was anticipating what God could do on a cosmic level! He anticipated the demonstration of God’s power, not only in this life but also in the life to come.
THE ACTIONS OF FAITH (James 2:21-24) – “Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’ and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” James is here targeting the “vain” or empty person who has a profession without practice. They purport to be sons. It does not follow that if you acknowledge God that you love Him. Many believe in God but do not know him as Father in a personal sonship relationship. Abraham was not justified by offering Isaac, because righteousness was credited to him 30 years earlier when he chose to believe God’s promises. What it did do was demonstrate the true nature of his faith, that produced the works of obedience. His life was not a vague impression of belief but full of specific expressions of faith in God. Invisible faith was made visible. As Calvin said, “We are saved by faith alone but saving faith is never alone.” As someone else has said, “Works follow faith as sexual intimacy follows marriage.” The covenant relationship of sons with the Father is always demonstrated in our woks of love and obedience.

And there you have the NT’s application of Genesis 22. Is your conviction of your heavenly Father’s care for you grounded and rooted in the cross and its spiritual meaning? As a son and daughter, do you have the assurance of faith in the Father? Can you trust God with the outcomes of your obedience, especially when it hurts your prospects and promises, and can you believe the Father to do right by you and raise that which is dead in your eyes? As a son or daughter, do you have a holy anticipation of faith in what the Father can and will do for you that is in your best interests? Is your saving faith also a serving faith and a sacrificing faith? When all is said and done, is there more that is said than done? Are you expressing the actions of faith in your Father?

I have tried to show you how Romans 4 and Genesis 22 show us why Abraham is a spiritual father to us in the faith, but having noted his DNA, they show us what should be characteristic of our sonship and daughterhood, making every day a Father’s Day for our heavenly Father!

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

MOTHER'S DAY

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dearest family,

I began my message on Sunday by saying that I would only be able to cover half of what I wanted to, but then I ended up only covering half of that half! Apologies, but I also think that what was communicated was sufficient, and what the Lord wanted for the day’s portion. I have been so encouraged by the many responses I have received from so many of you about what the Holy Spirit applied to your hearts. When you are teaching and preaching, you just have to trust the Lord with the process and the outcomes, especially when you are more aware of the challenges and weaknesses of the presentation. How relieving that it is always His Word and that He determines that it will not return void. Hallelujah!

As part of our “Finding Father” series I was arguing that if scripture describes Abraham as our “father” in faith, then as true sons and daughters of Abraham, we should learn something about our sonship by observing what scripture presents as his spiritual fathering DNA. This is an exposition that is first made by Jesus himself as we saw in John 8 when he challenges the Pharisees about a true understanding of what it is to be a true descendant of Abraham, and thus lays the foundation for Paul’s treatment of the matter in Romans 4. Similarly, Paul concludes that the key issue is not about the physical family of Abraham but about the spiritual faith of Abraham that then defines the family likenesses. Thus this text shows us the key marks of father Abraham that will be the disposition of those who are his sons and daughters - that’s you and me. The spiritual fatherhood of Abraham is emphasized: “He is the father of us all…He is our father in the sight of God…” And lest someone says that this is only applicable to the Jews he was addressing, sandwiched between those two statements we read: “I have made you a father of many nations” which affirms what has already been said in v11: “so he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” So what is it about Abraham as a spiritual father that will be characteristic of his spiritual sons and daughters, his “offspring” as Paul describes us. I only had time to make some brief comments about one of the four characteristics I wanted to point out, and that was about the “persuasion of faith: “…being fully persuaded…” (v21)

Because of the trustworthiness, the guarantee of the heavenly Father’s grace, sons can live free from doubt, free from anxiety, free from uncertainty, free from fear about anything that could possibly separate them from the love of the Father, or the will of the Father. If the Father was fully persuaded, so should and so could the sons be. This is compelling because for Abraham there was literally no conceivable hope. Faith was not gong to be assisted by Viagra, or by fertility treatment. But Abraham did not allow the feelings of hopelessness (the subjective) to overcome the facts of faith (the objective). The text says that he did not do two things: he did not weaken in his faith (v19) and he did not waver (stagger) through unbelief. Biblical faith is utterly realistic and true to circumstance. The text gives us a father’s lesson to a son in what to do when there’s nothing that can be done. Note these two responses:
He examined the facts: Truth is not a threat. Tampering with it is, because that means that if we adjust the reality of the circumstances and the need, we are actually less likely to trust God and seek God because we have rationalized it, taken the measure of it, managed it, marginalized it, minimized it, or just ignored it, or denied it. Why do we want to make things appear not as bad as they really are? These are not my words but scripture’s: v19, “He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead” which of course is not good at all. And then there’s more reality to cope with. Sarah isn’t a spring chicken bursting with eggs either. Anything else to add Abraham? “Sarah’s womb was also dead.” Womb, tomb, doom, gloom. Game, set and match. I guess it’s all over. God will have to rethink redemptive history! The whole eternal plan for the universe, forget just my life, is scuppered. To face the facts is the very stuff of faith, not the denial of it. Facing and stating the facts is not a negative confession. It is bringing the reality of a son’s life to the love of the Father.
He exercised faith: “Abraham in hope believed…” The reason we need the shield of faith is precisely because of all the fiery darts of doubts. But that which would seek to quench faith becomes the very fuel that serves to provoke our continuing quest to know the Father’s will in all circumstances. The worst that can happen is that we’ll end up spending a lot of time asking the Father about these things in the Son’s name, and as we’ve seen from my last series on asking, this presses us into intimacy with the Father. In Jesus’ words. It invites us to abide in Him more. Whatever happens is good for our experience of sonship, whether it’s what we want or what we would not choose.

The point is that Abraham was not threatened. It was Calvin who cut to the chase and said: “Everything by which we are surrounded conflicts with the promise of faith.” Our inadequacies may well be a threat to ourselves, may well be an embarrassment before others, but they are not a threat or a disqualifier to Father God. Did we not bring them with us into his presence when we first came and did he not accept us just as we were. In the words of the old hymn, “I came to Jesus as I was / Weary and worn and sad.” Our weaknesses, the places where faith is tested, become what someone has wonderfully described as “the arenas of his power.” The text says that our father did not weaken, but he understood that the circumstance was in fact not a death threat edged in black, delivered by a dark gloved claw, but an invitation to be strengthened. Abraham was not threatened.

On the contrary, he thrived. The text says in v20 that he “was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” We want to tell Abraham not to be so hasty on the glory bit! No need to be too trusting, too hopeful! But of course, the glory was not grounded in the satisfaction of his circumstances; his worship was not a response to prayers answered but to the one he knew had heard his prayer. That was enough. His worship did not need a changed circumstance in order for it to be fueled, but only the changeless character of God. Likewise, every son’s weakness is an invitation to Father’s strength; all barrenness is an invitation to His fertility; all desert is an invitation to his forestation program; all chaos is an invitation to his order; all inability is an invitation to his power. So the result was two-fold: Abraham was edified – he got strong by simply refusing to weaken; and God was exalted – there was no room for the enemies of faith, because the test strengthened trust. I love the way that Martin Luther put it with such typical earthiness: “Faith grips reason by the throat and strangles the beast. Venture no more to criticize the word of God. Sit thee down. Listen to His words and believe them.” Or how about the hymnal words of Charles Wesley:
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities
And cries ‘It shall be done!’
So the first thing we note about our spiritual father that will characterize our sonship is the persuasion of faith. But what was Abraham’s faith persuaded about, that true sons and daughters of the Father should equally be persuaded about? That’s for the next message in the series!

Pastorally yours
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

25TH ANNIVERSARY

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dearest family,

Let me begin with words of thanks to all of you for being such supportive and committed members of our spiritual community. It was so wonderful to have a full house on Sunday for our remembrance of the person, not the church, Christ Our Shepherd. The common loaf and cup just say afresh to us what Jesus said of himself: “I am the good shepherd…I lay down my life for the sheep.” Our focus was not on people, though we do honor those who have faithfully served this body over the years, but on Jesus, who invites us to his meal of celebration. Nothing could possibly embody more effectively what church is all about, and has been all about these past 25 years as communion: about waiting for and on Jesus, and about waiting for and on one another.

Thank you for being one of those sheep in this fold, this flock, this pasture, that is committed to do the two things that Jesus said his sheep would always do: hear his voice and follow in his footsteps. I also want to give a special thanks to those who attended the all-night of prayer from 10:00pm-6:00am. What a great and essential way to celebrate an anniversary. As usual, no one could believe how quickly the time sped by, as the prayer burdens were shared by all, and intercession was nonstop. There was a particularly intense two hours of prayer for the children and the next generation, which is only fitting as we consider the next 25 years. I would also like to express thanks to all of you who have spoken to, texted, emailed or phoned Celia and I with your words of encouragement, and your response to Sunday. As you’ve often heard me say, we are all in need of encouragement. It has meant so much to us and strengthens us to continue to “press on”. Although we are “under-shepherds” at best, the most important designation of our lives is less the descriptor “pastor” than it is “sheep”. Together with you, over all these years, as we have raised our six children in the context of this community, it has been the experience of being “just another family” in a loving context of kind, nurturing and supportive fellowship and friendship, that has blessed us and formatively shaped our lives and loves.

As a very brief meditation, we noted some of the constituent elements of Paul’s stock-taking in Phils.3:12- 14: his humility in inviting a true evaluation of his life; his intense focus on what mattered most; his consuming longing and desire for God’s future on God’s terms. He could stretch and strain for what was ahead because he was also standing firm and anchored in the non-negotiable realities of what Christ’s cross had accomplished in the past, and of what Christ’s coming would accomplish for the future. Our dependence is not on our history or what we have established in terms of constituted church life, but on the same verities that Paul depended on. We have never allowed any talk about “founders” at COSC. We don’t have any “aristocrats” or “landed gentry”! As scripture tells us, there is no other foundation laid than that which is laid in Jesus Christ. Our church life began with a three year exposition of the book of Ephesians, known as the “queen of the epistles” because it is the heart of Paul’s exposition and experience of the church. This was key foundation-laying for COSC. What could be a better and more desirable description of us than this: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him too you are being built up together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” (Ephs.2:19-22) Sounds like a church I would want to be part of, and we still want to become and remain!

Anniversaries are wonderful events if they serve to recover a God-worshiping, Christ-exalting spiritual remembrance rather than just a self-affirming sentimental reminiscence. I mentioned that there are two equal and opposite, necessary responses to the past according to scripture: knowing what and how to remember, and knowing what and how to forget. So we find ourselves at a moment like this, after 25 years, on a very fine pivot. The holy remembrance of the past provokes worship and thanksgiving, maybe tears as well as laughter; but to ensure that we don’t just become complacent or self-satisfied, there is a forgetting of the past, including victories and successes, that spurs us to consider only what is yet to be attained, the work that is yet to be done, the incompletions that we strive to yet see fulfilled, the immaturity that we yet long to mature, the latent that we yet want to become patent, the future hopes and expectations that we yet want to become the experience of our present reality That describes how I feel at a time like this, exactly.

Talking of maturity, after 25 years, how mature are we? After Paul encourages us to take inventory: to have a correct evaluation of ourselves, to have a concentrated focus on God’s future, to have a consuming desire for Jesus, he adds: “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.” (Phil.3:15) My prayer is that our response to the past we that have been so blessed to experience these past 25 years, in both our holy remembering and holy forgetting, will indeed be the mark and the manifestation of our maturity. Indeed we’re on the way, and not arrived. Indeed we’re looking forward and not back. Indeed we’ve had our lions and bears, but we want God to give us our Goliaths.

Finally, let’s take heed to the maternity ward of this work of God that is COSC. It was originally born out of a prayer meeting in the basement of a DC apartment building, as a few scattered sheep fervently asked God to plant churches in DC. 25 years ago there was no where near the variety and diversity of church life that we have now. God has answered those prayers. COSC was born out of a prayer meeting in 1987 with a distinctive call to the District. The acquisition of our present building, our placement in this geography was born out of an all-church period of 40 days of prayer and fasting 11 years later, in 1998. Every step over these years has been a walk of faith in response to a word from the Lord, not a decision made on the basis of resources we had. As we walked, God provided. Nothing has changed church! We cannot lose either God -revealed vision or this DNA of faith. The remembrance of our roots reminds us of what will be as crucial for future advances and possession. What is obtained in prayer can only be sustained by prayer. What is born in miracle can only be maintained by miracle. What is the work of faith can only continue to work by faith.

One of the foundational scriptures the Lord gave us way back at the beginning was Isaiah 37:31: “Once more a remnant…will take root below and bear fruit upward.” What is true for private personal life holds good for public corporate life: take care of the hidden life and God will take care of the evident life. If there’s no root there will be nothing but leaves and no fruit. Maybe I’ll see you at the next night of prayer as we seek God together for this next season of COSC’s life. The three priorities for COSC’s life are: ASK, ASK and ASK!

And don’t forget….we’re going to remove the pews so you may want to donate a chair so you have something to sit on. There’s nothing worse than sitting cross-legged on the floor through one of Bo’s long sermons!

Still pastorally yours,

Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

ABRAHAM

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dearest family,

I began my message on Sunday by saying that I would only be able to cover half of what I wanted to, but then I ended up only covering half of that half! Apologies, but I also think that what was communicated was sufficient, and what the Lord wanted for the day’s portion. I have been so encouraged by the many responses I have received from so many of you about what the Holy Spirit applied to your hearts. When you are teaching and preaching, you just have to trust the Lord with the process and the outcomes, especially when you are more aware of the challenges and weaknesses of the presentation. How relieving that it is always His Word and that He determines that it will not return void. Hallelujah!

As part of our “Finding Father” series I was arguing that if scripture describes Abraham as our “father” in faith, then as true sons and daughters of Abraham, we should learn something about our sonship by observing what scripture presents as his spiritual fathering DNA. This is an exposition that is first made by Jesus himself as we saw in John 8 when he challenges the Pharisees about a true understanding of what it is to be a true descendant of Abraham, and thus lays the foundation for Paul’s treatment of the matter in Romans 4. Similarly, Paul concludes that the key issue is not about the physical family of Abraham but about the spiritual faith of Abraham that then defines the family likenesses. Thus this text shows us the key marks of father Abraham that will be the disposition of those who are his sons and daughters - that’s you and me. The spiritual fatherhood of Abraham is emphasized: “He is the father of us all…He is our father in the sight of God…” And lest someone says that this is only applicable to the Jews he was addressing, sandwiched between those two statements we read: “I have made you a father of many nations” which affirms what has already been said in v11: “so he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” So what is it about Abraham as a spiritual father that will be characteristic of his spiritual sons and daughters, his “offspring” as Paul describes us. I only had time to make some brief comments about one of the four characteristics I wanted to point out, and that was about the “persuasion of faith: “…being fully persuaded…” (v21)

Because of the trustworthiness, the guarantee of the heavenly Father’s grace, sons can live free from doubt, free from anxiety, free from uncertainty, free from fear about anything that could possibly separate them from the love of the Father, or the will of the Father. If the Father was fully persuaded, so should and so could the sons be. This is compelling because for Abraham there was literally no conceivable hope. Faith was not gong to be assisted by Viagra, or by fertility treatment. But Abraham did not allow the feelings of hopelessness (the subjective) to overcome the facts of faith (the objective). The text says that he did not do two things: he did not weaken in his faith (v19) and he did not waver (stagger) through unbelief. Biblical faith is utterly realistic and true to circumstance. The text gives us a father’s lesson to a son in what to do when there’s nothing that can be done. Note these two responses:
He examined the facts: Truth is not a threat. Tampering with it is, because that means that if we adjust the reality of the circumstances and the need, we are actually less likely to trust God and seek God because we have rationalized it, taken the measure of it, managed it, marginalized it, minimized it, or just ignored it, or denied it. Why do we want to make things appear not as bad as they really are? These are not my words but scripture’s: v19, “He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead” which of course is not good at all. And then there’s more reality to cope with. Sarah isn’t a spring chicken bursting with eggs either. Anything else to add Abraham? “Sarah’s womb was also dead.” Womb, tomb, doom, gloom. Game, set and match. I guess it’s all over. God will have to rethink redemptive history! The whole eternal plan for the universe, forget just my life, is scuppered. To face the facts is the very stuff of faith, not the denial of it. Facing and stating the facts is not a negative confession. It is bringing the reality of a son’s life to the love of the Father.
He exercised faith: “Abraham in hope believed…” The reason we need the shield of faith is precisely because of all the fiery darts of doubts. But that which would seek to quench faith becomes the very fuel that serves to provoke our continuing quest to know the Father’s will in all circumstances. The worst that can happen is that we’ll end up spending a lot of time asking the Father about these things in the Son’s name, and as we’ve seen from my last series on asking, this presses us into intimacy with the Father. In Jesus’ words. It invites us to abide in Him more. Whatever happens is good for our experience of sonship, whether it’s what we want or what we would not choose.

The point is that Abraham was not threatened. It was Calvin who cut to the chase and said: “Everything by which we are surrounded conflicts with the promise of faith.” Our inadequacies may well be a threat to ourselves, may well be an embarrassment before others, but they are not a threat or a disqualifier to Father God. Did we not bring them with us into his presence when we first came and did he not accept us just as we were. In the words of the old hymn, “I came to Jesus as I was / Weary and worn and sad.” Our weaknesses, the places where faith is tested, become what someone has wonderfully described as “the arenas of his power.” The text says that our father did not weaken, but he understood that the circumstance was in fact not a death threat edged in black, delivered by a dark gloved claw, but an invitation to be strengthened. Abraham was not threatened.

On the contrary, he thrived. The text says in v20 that he “was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” We want to tell Abraham not to be so hasty on the glory bit! No need to be too trusting, too hopeful! But of course, the glory was not grounded in the satisfaction of his circumstances; his worship was not a response to prayers answered but to the one he knew had heard his prayer. That was enough. His worship did not need a changed circumstance in order for it to be fueled, but only the changeless character of God. Likewise, every son’s weakness is an invitation to Father’s strength; all barrenness is an invitation to His fertility; all desert is an invitation to his forestation program; all chaos is an invitation to his order; all inability is an invitation to his power. So the result was two-fold: Abraham was edified – he got strong by simply refusing to weaken; and God was exalted – there was no room for the enemies of faith, because the test strengthened trust. I love the way that Martin Luther put it with such typical earthiness: “Faith grips reason by the throat and strangles the beast. Venture no more to criticize the word of God. Sit thee down. Listen to His words and believe them.” Or how about the hymnal words of Charles Wesley:
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone; Laughs at impossibilities
And cries ‘It shall be done!’

So the first thing we note about our spiritual father that will characterize our sonship is the persuasion of faith. But what was Abraham’s faith persuaded about, that true sons and daughters of the Father should equally be persuaded about? That’s for the next message in the series!

Pastorally yours

Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

SONS AND SLAVES - PART 2

Dearest family,

I know you thought we were through with the parable of the prodigal sons a long time ago in this series, but because you are so familiar with it now, it is a good place to start. They are both sons. Their identity as sons has never been reclassified by the father. It’s how he sees them, how he loves them, how he provides for them. But both of them make equally bad choices in their relationship with the father, and both choose a different persona. Though a son, the younger wanted to be a “hired servant”, the very person that Jesus said could not live in intimacy with the father, or be taken into the father’s confidence. The older brother betrays himself in his angry outburst when he describes his life as “slaving for you”. What this does tell us is that though a son, you can in fact end up living as a slave or a servant, and consequently, you will only see the father from a slave’s or servant’s perspective. There are so many who are called and loved as sons and daughters who are “hardly sons” but in fact living as servants and slaves. Fundamental to all healing and deliverance is the recovery of the assurance of our sonship and God’s fatherhood.

But what about this “hired servant” idea? If you remember, there were three levels of enslavement or service and he happened to choose the best of the three, the one that had a little more give and benefit than the bondsmen and the slaves – but whether you eat cake in prison or dirt, you’re in prison! No matter how you dress up or rationalize your bondage, you’re a slave. You can give slavery a good name if you really work at it. You can try all you want to make it sound good, feel normal, but it’s a world away from being in the father’s embrace and living in the father’s house. Being a son is about being both near and dear. Why this hired-servant thing? Because he believes he has forfeited being a son, by killing the heart of the father. He has believed the lie that he is now excluded from that kind of intimate relationship, or that having once sinned against it, it cannot be recovered. Somehow he still thinks he can make a deal with the father that will at least be better than the slavery of the pig-sty but still some kind of servitude that could never be the sonship that once was. The only thing that could possibly change this for him would be a revelation of the true nature both of fatherhood and sonship – the same way there are thousands sitting in pews who need a revelation of the running father, who is unashamed by the tunic up around his waist, unashamed of the way he is revealing his fatherly needs and passions for the son, welcoming them home again to an experience of sonship, sealing their deliverance from the slavery of that pig-sty, and assuring them that they will never be a slave again to fear and bondage. We have not been healed and delivered from the enslavement of Satan, to become a hired hand for the Father.

Being a hired servant was what the son knew best to be, apart from his father’s grace. But hear me: the love of the father will not allow us to be or become what we are not. In any case, his idea that by working he was somehow going to be able to earn to pay back, or save to recover what was lost, was unattainable, plain impossible. It turns out that just as the father was always the father, so the son, despite all that had happened to disfigure his identity or appear to disbar his sonship, was still a son, was always a son. Maybe a dead son, but still a son and not a servant. Maybe a disobedient son, but still a son and not a servant. Maybe a delinquent son, but still a son and not a servant. The father has no other desire or intention but to have a son: he can raise a dead son, he can restore a disobedient son; he can redeem a delinquent son. So how does the father respond to the son who has chosen to be a hired servant, not a son? He reinstates him to every vestige of sonship: the robe, the ring and the roast.

The older brother was no different. In his anger he exposes himself. “I’ve been slaving for you.” Long before Paul wrote to the Romans or to the Galatians about being slaves again to fear, the contrast between a slave and a true son is presented by Jesus. The two sons are equal in their estrangement from the heart of the father, whether through license or whether through legalism. Here is the tragedy of living in the father’s house as a slave. But it also shows us some of the bad fruits of this slavery, the evidences of this bondage.

As I shared on Sunday, pursuant to the last message I preached in this series, Jesus not only said that he would not leave us as orphans, but that he no longer even called us servants. Furthermore, having said that everyone who sins is a slave to sin, and pointing out that a slave has “no permanent place in the family” (Jn. 8:34-36), Jesus said that if He as the Son set us free we would be free indeed, just as He was as a true son of the Father. How amazing is the Spirit of adoption, but how virulently does the enemy of our souls want to deny us living with the rights of sons, and therefore the inheritance of sons and daughters.

Please find attached the summary of the powerpoints I showed on Sunday, that are Jack Frost’s presentation of some of the major differences between the heart of orphanhood and the heart of sonship. I do so hope that this helps you.

Finding Father together with you my brothers and sisters,

Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)