Matthew 12. 1-29: A different kind of Victory

Remembrance Sunday 2014

In the novel and film “The four feathers” on of the characters, a British officer, says “It ceases to be an idea for which we fight. Or a flag. Rather we fight for the man on our left, and we fight for the man on our right.” But before blood is shed, Governments do not go to war just so people can have jolly good war. There are aims which may include the overthrow of a foreign government, taking over territory, or maybe compelling a government to change an objectionable policy. So there are always two things happening: something political and something personal...

Around Remembrance Sunday, the text John 15:13 is often used: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” So what were the political and personal things that were happening in the sacrifice of Jesus. Because Jesus for sure wasn't just a victim. The story goes like this.

God made a good world. He intended men and women to have authority over that world, to partner each other in managing and maintaining the planet. It was meant to be a world without domination, disease, disasters, demons and deception.

But things went pear-shaped – people rebelled against God. They tried to do things their own way, and the beautiful world God made was spoiled. So we live in a world where there are wars and conflicts, where there is oppression, exploitation, fear, famine and disease, and where nature itself seems broken. The fall effects every aspect of life in our world:

• there is domination: oppression in the way people are treated by other people and by institutions. (including religion... the "law" Jesus and the disciples were breaking wasn't God's law; it was the Pharisees' interpretation of God's law.)
• There is disease. There are disasters. The created order is broken. Our bodies wear out and die. We poison ourselves with legal and illegal drugs, with sugar and fat, with pesticides and preservatives. There are earthquakes, hurricanes, famines as we poison the planet with greenhouse gases.
• There are demons. There is spiritual oppression. It's kind of unfashionable to say that: after all, we're no longer primitive tribes. But there today is a massive concentration on the occult, a fascination with all things weird and spooky. C S Lewis (author of the Narnia stories and one of the sharpest minds of the twentieth century) 70 years ago predicted “The Materialistic Magician, the man … worshiping what he vaguely calls 'Forces' while denying the existence of 'Spirits.'” People do find themselves under the direct and damaging influence of ugly, unclean spirits, demons.
• There is deception and darkness. So the Pharisees were suggesting that Jesus did his work through devil power. They were calling white black. How many of us feel we can trust politicians – of any party? And it's not just politicians: one of the marks of our culture is the exalting of “image” over reality. We love “reality TV” but all TV is made up of carefully crafted images. And we deceive ourselves, we believe our own publicity, even when ti flies in the face of all the evidence.

That world, the world Jesus entered, is our messed-up world. Where does God fit into that account of the world? Through OT history, God promises a time coming when he shall again rule a peaceful, just world (Isa 2. 2-5)

God's Kingdom: a revolution.

When Jesus entered this world, he declared a revolution. Indeed by “becoming flesh” he entered into enemy territory. It was, after all, through “flesh” through human drives like hunger that the fall had happened in the first place. The devil sees the world of “flesh” as his world; our “flesh” is something that Paul sees is at war against God. And Jesus became flesh. His incarnation was a declaration of war; his baptism was his mobilization to the front line.

The whole point of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, was a war. It all happened – like a war – to alter the balance of power and establish God's right to rule in his world. It all happened to defeat the devil and all the domination, disease, disasters, demons and deception. All the oppression, exploitation, impurity, and brokenness that he has scattered about to spoil the wonderful world God made.

So when Jesus comes, what is he doing? He is healing the sick; he is driving out the demons; he is cleansing the lepers; he is preaching the Good News. All of that is a rebellion, it is warfare against the way things are. We see that in Matt 12.

• Jesus challenges domination. He declares war on the oppressive legalism of Sabbath keeping; God gave us a “sabbath” as a day of “Rest, Reflection and Relationships” - but extra laws turned it into d day of fear and judgment. God hates all forms of exploitation and oppression.
• Jesus challenges disease. In the synagogue, on the Sabbath, Jesus. shows that disease is as much an invader, that doesn't belong in God's world. The little person with a shriveled hand, he heals.
• Jesus challenges the demons. Verse 22f. One of those Jesus. “helped” was blind and mute because of a demon. Jesus recognized that the man's problem was spiritual not physical in its cause, and drove the evil entities out of the man's life. He didn't heal him, he drove the demons because he understood that they were not the same as “illness”
• Jesus challenges deception. Immediately – as soon as he has driven the demon out, some of the religious people begin to explain away what he has done. (as they have done before: Mt 9. 34) Jesus challenges the deception on logical, intelligent, grounds.

Jesus deals with these things: he declares war. He begins to win battles.

The Victor

The Pharisees (for the first time in Matthew) wanted to kill Jesus (v 14). “There is a clear link between chapter 12 and the passion of Jesus” (Green, p 148)

Eventually, Jesus was arrested, tried and put to death. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. But in Jesus.' death, his war-aims were achieved. in that death, he “bound the strong man”, Satan himself, so that the strong man's goods could be plundered, so that hell itself could be plundered, and men and women and the created order could be taken back from the Devil; the tools of oppression he uses – domination, disease, disasters, demons and deception – are now the weapons of a defeated enemy. Jesus conquered death and lives and ruels today. Paul put it like this: “When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant cancelled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” Colossians 2. 15f, the Message)

So Jesus fought to achieve the great war-aim of destroying the works of the evil one. He fought fopr revolution; for regime change. And he did that for us. He fought, for the man on his left and the man on his right – for us.

That means you and I can live in the good of God's Kingdom today: the deal is that we quit kidding ourselves, admit that Jesus is who he says he is – and allow regime change in our own lives as we trust him and surrender our lives to him.

© Gilmour Lilly November  2014

Acts 23. 11-35

Acts 23. 11-35
For Paul, life was getting g more and more challenging.  To remind you of the background, he had turned up in Jerusalem after travelling through Turkey and Greece telling people the good news about Jesus.  He had  been accused of bringing a non Jew into the Jewish Temple – which although it sounds trivial to us, was a big deal to Jews.  He had nearly been lynched as he had tried to talk about his encounters with God and about the challenges of following Jesus.  The Romans had arrested and imprisoned him for his own protection – and he had narrowly escaped a flogging as the Romans tried to find out what he had done, before they realised he was a Roman Citizen.  So he is still under arrest, but also under the protection of Roman law now they know he is a full Roman citizen.  And I can let yo into a secret: he will remain under arrest for the rest of the book of Acts – probably for the rest of his life. Life was tough.  It was going to get tougher.  It would be kind of tempting to despair; to lose a sense of direction in the midst of chaos  and pain, or to begin to feel self-pity... 

It was at this most strategic point that Lord stood near Paul and spoke to him : “‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”   Luke records these direct, visionary experiences, happening to Paul at this conversion (Acts 9. 3) and again shortly after his conversion (Paul tells the story in Acts 22. 17-21) and on four separate occasions during his mission: here and at 16. 9 (when he had a vision of a man from Macedonia, calling for help); 18. 9f (in Corinth when the Jews turned against him); and  27.23f (after the great storm and just before he was shipwrecked!).  These experiences are real, dramatic, powerful; they take place at decisive, and mostly dangerous points in the story;  they are all about God's call on Paul's life; and they are all about mission to those outside the Christian faith. 

Vision gives us a missional destiny
In our world, we need that.  We are not used to visions, to “God-experiences”.   In a  context where there are trials, discouragements, possibly direct threats,we need those vision moments.   Maybe God gives us pictures of beautiful valleys full of flowers and wonderful sunsets over calm seas.  But whatever the vision, they are  given to remind us who God is,  to make us strong, to renew a sense of purpose and destiny, and a missionary focus  so we can not only survive but grow, thrive and make an impact in our world.   They are about maintaining an “Overriding desire to see the world recognised the Lordship of Jesus Christ...”     D L Moody said “God has given me a lifeboat and said to me 'Moody, save all you can'”

Prov 29. 18 says “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.  The word perish has connotations of nakedness.  Without a God vision, we are unprotected, left to our own devices, embarrassed and unprotected from whatever the enemy wants to throw at us – or whatever people choose to throw at us.  

On holiday I've been reading “Birthing the Miraculous” by Heidi Baker, an evangelist and missionary in Mozambique. She writes “I encourage you to reflect on the calling God has given you.... What is it that you want to do?  Who do you want to become?  For what do you want to be known? If you have never asked the Holy Spirit to speak to you about these things I encourage you to spend time doing so now.” 

I believe we need that.  We need to know what God has called us to.  It may not involve going off to Mozambique.  It may be the same thing we have been doing already.  But so long as it's not just what we do for the lack of the imagination and passion to do something better.  So long as it's God's call.   That call, that vision will keep us in shape, keep us together, keep us strong and focussed, when the enemy, the culture, and our personal circumstances are undermining and destroying us, making us feel very very insecure.  

Vision makes sense of circumstances
V. 11, which places Paul’s desire to go to Rome within the purposes of God, also serves as the introduction and keynote for pretty much the rest of the Acts of the Apostles:  “as you have witnessed for me in Jerusalem, you are going to witness for me in Rome”....  And look what follows:

The very next day, (v 12-15) forty Jews, probably highly political types, take a solemn oath, that they would not eat or drink until they had killed  Paul.  A conspiracy, motivated only by bigotry, jealousy and hatred.   They go to the Sanhedrin and tell them to tell the Governor they want to examine Paul again, the next day (They obviously didn't want to go without food too long!)  the idea was that when Paul was being transferred from prison to court, they would make their move and assassinate him.

And the Sanhedrin (who were not above using the most dishonest and underhand means to secure what they wanted) were willing to co-operate with them.  The worldly-wise Sadducee party held the power.  Even those among the Pharisees who felt positively about Paul, weren't prepared or able to oppose this or report it. 

That was left to Paul's young nephew!  The nephew – and indeed Paul’s relationship with his family – is shrouded in mystery.  We don't know anything about this young man and we wish we did!   The young man certainly knew he needed to take action, went and told Paul.

How might Paul have felt at that moment?  How often have God's people been left in  a position like that.  I think of King David in the Old Testament, whom Saul in a fit of jealousy and paranoia pursued, forcing him to live like a bandit, afraid of betrayal.  I think of Martin Luther when he stood trial for posting his 39 theses on the door or Wittenberg cathedral.  I think of David Armstrong, who was hounded out of this church in Limavady for taking a stand against hatred and bigotry.  I think of Heidi and Rolland Baker in Mozambique. Rolland writes, “Our years in Pemba have been tumultuous, intense, filled with demonic attacks, violence, threats, opposition from the government, discouragement, theft, loss, disappointments, failures, staff turnover, and the constant, unrelenting demands of extreme poverty and disease all around us.” But Paul in all his difficulties,  knew what God had said to him   “you are going to witness for me in Rome”. 

 So Paul (now he was recognised was a respected Roman Citizen) was able to get the support of the centurion to introduce the young man to the Commanding Officer.  In the end, the Commander was able to operate discretely to outwit the Jewish plot, rushing Paul to the safer city of Caesarea, which was the “capital” of the Roman province, was in gentile-dominated territory, and had a larger garrison.  The governor, Felix, was the Jerusalem Commander's superior.  Claudius Lysias, the Commander in Jerusalem, wrote a very professional and respectful letter to Felix, that Luke gives us the gist of.  Felix was a freedman: he and his brother had been slaves, but his brother had been freed and had then become a favourite of Emperor Claudius; so Felix also had been freed and had risen up the ranks.  As Governor of Palestine, he had in the words of Tacitus, “the power of a king and the mind of a slave.”  in other words, eh was no gentleman; he continued to be self-seeking and to work the angles for his own personal gain.  Such was the man in  whose hands Paul’s fate now lay.  But as Paul was transferred from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and as the self-seeking shrewd and rather unscrupulous Felix put him under guard in Herod’s palace pending trial – maybe comfortable surroundings but frustrating ones – he knew what God had said to him   “you are going to witness for me in Rome”.

Whether it is the evil and hatred  and fanaticism of conspirators and the hypocrisy of conniving Sanhedrin members, or the meticulous care of a bemused Roman tribune, or the self-seeking arrogance of Governor Felix, or the single-mindedness of Paul himself, are all being used by that sovereign hand of God. 

Vision empowers us for action. 
Paul, his young nephew, and the Roman Commander in Jerusalem, were each able to take discrete, careful steps to defeat the plot against Paul’s life.   In fact, they were able to defeat the plotters using their own strategies – secrecy and subterfuge.  Sometimes we need to defeat evil, on its own terms.  In Lk 16. 1-9  Jesus told a strange  parable about the servant who cooked to books so he would be looked after when he got the sack, and then he said “the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.   Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings”  I am not saying that it is OK to engage in dishonesty – and that is not what Jesus was saying either!  What we are to do is, like Paul, use what we have – opportunities, skills, resources – for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.   Christian missions is the announcement, embodiment and extension of Christ's reign in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father.

 Paul is able to harvest the experience – or the knowledge it communicated – to enable him to remain calm, confident and dignified throughout the difficulties of the next few years!   Believing God didn’t mean sitting doing nothing.

We need to have the strength of conviction that Paul had, but to combine that with the wisdom and shrewdness to avoid squandering our opportunities.   So we need to have a vision; and we need to do what we can.   As William Carey said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”

© Gilmour Lilly October  2014

Acts 22. 23–23. 11

Acts 22. 23–23. 11

The Story Paul has been accused of “brining a Gentile into the Temple”. The Romans have taken charge of him for his own protection; he has been given permission to address the crowd.  He tells his own story up to the point where God calls him to mission among the gentiles:  that word again sets the crowd off and they are ready to kill him, so once again the Roman officer steps in, takes Paul away.  He may not have understood Paul's speech in Aramaic but he knows it has caused a ruckus, so he decides to interrogate him – complete with a flogging – to find out the truth. 

At that point, as the soldiers are tying him to a stake , Paul asks the officer “Hey, is this actually legal?  Did you know I ma a Roman Citizen?”  The officer doesn't think he can possibly be a Roman citizen. After all, Paul is dishevelled, bruised and bleeding.  He doesn't look much like the type to be able to afford Roman Citizenship.  “I paid a lot of money to become a citizen” is a challenge: the officer is in effect saying  “Do you think I'm stupid? I know from personal experience that Citizenship costs a lot of money?”  Paul, of course is able to surprise the soldier by calmly stating “I was born a citizen!”  He outranked the man who had been treating him with such contempt.   The law was clear:
A Roman citizen could not be tortured or whipped, nor could he receive the death penalty, unless he was found guilty of treason.  And the Romans had been on the point of scourging him: a beating that often caused death.
If accused of treason, a Roman citizen had the right to be tried in Rome, and even if sentenced to death, no Roman citizen could be sentenced to die on the cross.

What is Paul doing here?  Is he suddenly afraid of death or of the pain of a beating?  Maybe, but not enough to wriggle out of it!  What we see here, then is part of a major realignment in Paul's identity and self understanding.  He perhaps more clearly than ever before sees himself as a Roman.  Rather, I believe he is using his citizenship because it is his right to do so;   and he is using his citizenship to get himself to the one place on the planet he had hope to get to for years – Rome!   If they were going to accuse Paul of anything, let them accuse him of treason, and as a Roman citizen, he would stand trial in Rome.
In bewilderment and concern that he has already broken the law, the Roman Governor decides to call together the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Council) the next day...  And as Paul begins to speak to the Sanhedrin, the high priest who is called Ananias orders someone to hit Paul in the mouth.  Paul's response is immediate, sharp, and well-deserved “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” (23v3)  Now summoned by the Roman Governor, it's likely that Ananias wouldn't be wearing “priestly” clothes: these were holy and not to  be worn  outside of the Temple.   It's quite possible that Paul, as a comparative newcomer to Jerusalem, didn't recognise that Ananias was in fact high priest.  Certainly he wasn't behaving like one!  Paul knows that he cannot accuse someone of breaking the law if he himself does not keep the law, so he apologises. 
He then sets the two sides in the council against each other.  The Sadducees were the upper-class Jews who, were careless about keeping the law, and more concerned about keeping the temple and sacrificial system going.  The Pharisees were often from more modest background; they were obsessed with keeping the law and interpreting it properly so they were very learned.  The Sadducees didn’t' believe in bodily resurrection; the Pharisees did – they were the ones who took the Bible literally, remember.  And Paul divides the council in two by saying “I'm in chains for believing in the resurrection!”  (v 6)   And this was, once again, much more than a clever trick to confuse his enemies.  It reveals some things that were happening in the depth of his heart.  Identifying himself as a Roman Citizen does not in any sense diminish his sense of identity as a Jew and a Pharisee. 

The point: Paul is a “World citizen.”   he says  “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law... I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”  (1 Cor 9. 20-22) 

Listen: we need to be within a culture in order to save people within that culture.  Hit and run evangelism will not work,  We need presence evangelism; we need incarnational evangelism.

The problem:  Belonging in a culture, identifying ourselves with a group of people,  can be difficult and even cause problems.  Think of the groups you are part of – family, work colleagues, or on the football terraces.  They may be good people but there may also be things in their corporate behaviour that embarrass you and that you don’t want to copy!  Some Christians conclude that we should separate ourselves from all of that:  keep ourselves apart so we don't pick up sin like the 'flu!

Now, when Paul openly identified himself as a Roman Citizen,that does not mean that he suddenly felt that the Romans were a great bunch of lads.  It didn't mean he was blinded to the weaknesses and flaws in their culture: the appalling cruelty, the contempt for those they had defeated, the idolatry and immorality.

But at this point he has decided “These are my people too!”  

Despite his deep disquiet with some of the personalities, and with the attitudes and outlook of his fellow Jews, despite the fact that some of them were “whitewashed tombs”,  he clearly and definitely has his place among them, as a Pharisee who believes in the resurrection. 

We don't need to like everything about the cultures around us. We don't need to be like the people around us in our attitudes and behaviours.  But we need to identify with them, to be part of their lives and to treat others as our equals and our friends.  How can we identify with more than one “tribe” and still remain faithful to Jesus?

The difference.    Some in the Sanhedrin ask “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” (v. 9)   But in fact, one had.  It was precisely because of his encounters with Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and the interventions of the angels of God in his life, that Paul stood before these people as a believer in Jesus.  Paul was a citizen of the supernatural realm, the Kingdom of god.  Paul himself wrote to the Phlippians (from prison, possibly in Rome itself!) “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 3. 20).  

It is when our citizenship is in Heaven, when we are focussed on Jesus, identify with him, identify ourselves first and foremost as Citizens of the Kingdom of God, that we are released from a narrow, nationalistic, exclusive attachment to one culture only.  We can be Scottish and British; we can be an ordinary person from Rosyth and have specialist knowledge and skills....  no one culture is able to eat us up – because we belong to the Kingdom of God, and are able to enter into other cultures as a stranger and a visitor. 

So, in the end, Paul is kept as prisoner, but kept safe from the Jews who wanted him dead.  And God confirms his plan in it all:  “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”  (v 11).  There would be further cruelties and abuses from the places where Paul claimed human citizenship – both Jewish and Roman.  But the realm where his real citizenship was, where his first loyalty lies, that Kingdom is the triumphant one and will conquer in the end.

© Gilmour Lilly October  2014

Harvest 2014

“SEEDS” Talks

1. How do seeds grow? All by themselves.

Mark 4 . 26 He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 As soon as the corn is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’

There is life in seeds. They are living things, that contain all they need to get a new plant started. All you need to do to see a seed germinate – make a new plant – is put it somewhere warmish and moist. Damp soil usually works well. That's all. There is life in the seeds, that knows just what to do. All by itself, it makes a root come out; then a green shoot that grows into a leaf....

What might help the seeds to grow? Water? A little? Warmth? A little. Keeping the birds off? And later on, training, pruning. What might stop seeds from growing? Stamping on them. Breaking the leaves off. Pulling them up to see how they are doing! Washing them away with too much water!

Jesus says Gods' Kingdom – “what it's like when God is given a chance to be in charge” – is like seeds planted in the soil. God's Kingdom is a living thing. All by itself it knows what to do: it can start new life; it can grow; it can lead to all sorts of good things. We don't make it grow although we can stop it growing, and we can help it to grow well. So I want us to learn how to plant good seeds for god's kingdom, so that we can see God's Kingdom growing in our lives. We can see what it's like when God is allowed to be in charge.

2. Seeds become something much bigger than themselves that blesses others.

Mark 4 . 30 Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’

You plant tiny mustard seeds – like these – and you get a bush that is big enough for the birds to make nests in. Seeds usually grow into something bigger and better. You plant little brown seeds and get beautiful flowers. You plant tasteless little white seeds and get tomatoes and lettuce. You plant hard little bullets an get soft, sweet, juicy peas!

Jesus says the Kingdom of God – “what it's like when God is given a chance to be in charge” – is like that mustard seed: it seems so tiny and stupid ad useless. A wee black dot. But what it grows into is bigger and better than the seed. It is something that can be a blessing, can be enjoyed, can help lots of people. In God's kingdom, great big, wonderful blessings can come from tiny little starts.

3. Seeds reproduce themselves. They are predictable.

Luke 6. 43 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognised by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn-bushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Look at these seeds: do you know what kind of fruit or plants these seeds came from? Apples. Oranges. Grapes (maybe!) Coriander (try a bit!). Tomatoes. Once you identify the seed or the fruit, you absolutely know what kind of plant produced that seed. No questions. No oranges from apple trees. Seeds are predictable.

Jesus said that applies to God's Kingdom – “what it's like when God is given a chance to be in charge” – in our lives. IF we are letting God be in charge, Kingdom seeds will be growing in our lives, and we will grow good fruit – lives that make other people happy; lives that share things out in god;s world; lives that make Gods; world a better place. Your life and mine is either a “God's in charge” tree, or its' a “you’re in charge” tree. We know which is which, not by looking to see if people are singing the songs at Church or whether they read their Bible; we know which is which by whether they are a kind, good, honest person or not. What kind of tree are you?

4. How can I plant good seeds?

Luke 17. 5 The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’

6 He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you.
We connect with God's Kingdom – with “what it's like when God is given a chance to be in charge” – by faith! That means we put our trust totally in Jesus and in what he says; in his love and what eh has done for us.
How much faith do you need to have? How much faith do you need to have to become a new person, a “God's in charge” tree? How much faith do you need to pray and see god answer? Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed. A tiny dot. Just a little. It doesn't need to be huge. As long as it's there.
And if we trust him, then , really everything in our lives belongs to him. Faith leads to total commitment. There are not areas where he isn't allowed. Jesus told a tiny wee story like this: (Matthew 13:44 ) ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

© Gilmour Lilly October  2014

Acts 22. 1-22 The power of your story....

The power of your story....

Paul stands up to make his “defence” in front of this Jewish crowd. But he does that simply be telling his story: the story of his journey with Jesus. And Jesus himself said (Lk 21. 12-14) that these moments when we have to defend ourselves (ἀπολογια) are opportunities for witness (μαρτύριον) So I ant us to look at the importance of our story

1. It links us with others. See verses 3-5.

• The way he addresses them Brothers and fathers,
• The language, Aramaic,
• The name dropping I studied under Gamaliel
• all create a sense of unity, that comes to a climax as he says he used to be opposed to the Jesus message just like all of you.

As he tells the story of his upbringing, conversion and life in ministry, Paul is deliberately making the links between himself and his hearers.

Story is a wonderful way of building community. There is a actually a great deal of literature out there on the subject. For example, Management expert Steve Denning says

• Storytelling builds trust
• Storytelling unlocks passion – whether it be commitment, love or as in this story, anger.
• Storytelling is non-hierarchical; teaching concepts makes the speaker an “expert.” Thursday before last, peter and I were cooking a curry for all the crowds assembled in Silje's home... and one of the bridesmaids came and started asking us theological questions. It's quite a nice way to liven up curry-making, having a discussion about what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

So here is a challenge: find someone who is a believer – and share some of your story with each other; then observe how the process has brought you together.

2. It is lively. (vv. 6-13)

Paul tells his story here with real narrative skill: it's exciting. In particular, his story is, over and over again, the story of Jesus, the story of god at work in his life:

• the Light – strong enough to be seen an midday, outshining the sun – and the experience of being blinded and helpless, a reflection of Dt 28. 28.
• The voice of Jesus (of Nazareth – an important detail for a Jewish audience for whom yeshua was a common name). It is the risen Jesus whom Paul is encountering.
• The question – “What shall I do, Lord?” This encounter with Jesus had changed him from an enemy of Jesus, into someone who can call him “Lord” .
• The visitor: Ananias who came to minster to Paul – and whose ministry word about Paul receiving his sight was fulfilled so Paul knew God had sent Ananias to him.

The whole narrative is a series of clear “God-event”. In our testimony, supernatural experiences, a genuine conversation with Jesus, our own inner transformation, and the actions of other faithful believers, come together to make a living story of god at work. We have a faith that is rooted in narrative – not stories made up to make a point, but stories that are the point: God-events recorded and reflected upon.

The first New Testament was not written but spoken – the stories of Jesus repeated over and over. No wonder Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God to salvation. (Rom 1. 16)

It is the word of god: living and active and sharper than any two edged sword (Heb 4. 12) . So be sure to partner that narrative with your narrative – your story of god at work in your life. “You are our letter of recommendation, written on tablets of your hearts...” Your story lifts faith sharing above the level of simply “doctrine” or concepts, above the level of debate, to a level of experience – good or bad. And your life, your story, may be the only bible people read. “The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life” (Calvin)

So here's another challenge: Ask yourself, “Do I have a God story?” What in your story is clearly “God at work?”

3. It can be a tool for learning.

Paul is using his story to make the point that the Christian Way is in no sense antagonistic to its Jewish roots. Ananias ... was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews, who said “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.” (v 12, 14)

And Luke is no doubt aware as always of the wee bit of something slipped in here that will make useful teaching material, about baptism: Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name. (v 15) Baptism in the name of Jesus means baptism in which we call upon his name; and it is a wonderful symbol of washing our sins away – in Paul's case the sin of persecuting the Church and the Church's Lord.

We learn through stories. They are a wonderful way of quietly, gently getting to grips with the truth; especially when they are personal, individual stories of faith and God at work.

So here is another challenge: Can you say with integrity, that your story, your experience, confirms the teaching of Scripture? And if it doesn't, what are you going to do about it?

4. It has its limits: (v. 17-21)

Paul knew that already. He's not telling his story to save his skin. He's telling his story to share the good News of Jesus. As he talks about his vision of Jesus in the temple, several things become clear:

Firstly, that early in his ministry, God had told him persecution would happen

Secondly, The change from persecutor – holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death – to passionate follower of Jesus, has to have come from somewhere. But the Jews cannot accept that it is from God because his “call” to go to the Gentiles doesn't fit with their existing worldview – which remained one where Gentiles were dirty, undesirable outsiders. So they shout, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” And Paul knew from his own experience what it was to have felt the Holy Spirit prodding him towards faith at that point, and to have resisted.

So – despite the strengths, the links made, the lively experience retold and the learning offered through the story, the crowd reject that story and shout, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” . Throwing dust in the air was a very typical Eastern expression of loathing and contempt (similar to Muslims hitting pictures of Saddam Hussein with their shoes.) “Gentiles” was an emotional word; and it was the word that had begun the whole debacle.

Our testimonies don't compel, because God doesn't compel people to faith. Sometimes, as he did with Paul, God turns the volume up to make himself heard, but although he wants everyone to be saved, God doesn't compel people to faith.

Our story can be powerful. But it's not compelling, in the same way that a logical, answer to Richard Dawkins isn't compelling; in the same way that a miracle of healing isn’t compelling. Because, God doesn't compel us into faith. It has limits. It will not persuade those who are determined to reject it. It will not force men and women into faith.

Telling our story is a great strategy. It is one we need to master. But without the power of the Holy Spirit, it will fail. So we need to pray: to keep on banging the doors of heaven, asking for mountains of unbelief to be removed. And we need to persevere. To keep on loving people, to keep on sharing the Gospel; to keep on living consistently among people. Even when he arrived at his final destination on earth – Rome – Paul's first action was to call together the local Jewish leaders (Acts 28. 18); and even thought he Jews rejected his message, he still welcomed all who came to see him. (v. 30)

We don't know what God will do and we don't know what people will do, with our story. So our fourth challenge, is to identify someone whom you want to come to know Jesus – someone who hasn't moved an inch in years maybe – and pray for them.

© Gilmour Lilly September  2014

1 Timothy 2 - Call to Prayer for our world!

 1 Timothy 2

1. Called to pray for the world
Paul  urges – and that word at root means calls – the Church to prayer for or world.  It is part of our calling as Christians.  Peter says we are a kingdom of priests (1 Pet 2. 9).  We think we understand in Baptist Churches the idea of the “priesthood of all believers”: we don't need someone to stand between us and God – because Jesus our Great High priest has offered his own life for us – and we are therefore all priests who can approach God.  Every believer is a priest. But who are we priests for?  We often think we are simply or own priests:  but I believe we are meant to be priests for one another, and for the world.
All sorts of prayers: pleas, prayers, petitions and thanksgiving be made for our world.  It's difficult to discover quite what Paul meant by these words.  Pleas suggest specific requests in times of need; petitions is a difficult word to translate but the root idea is of meeting together to have a conversation; and of course there is thanksgiving (the word that soon came to refer to the Communion service!)   You may  not feel you are great at praying a long prayer but you can be part of the conversation.                                                   
For all sorts of people especially those in authority. Do you pray for all sorts? I challenge us: 
1. pick our least liked politician and pray for him or her – not that they will  get elected or win in the referendum but for blessing and encounter with God.
2. When you watch the news on TV,  instead of sitting there like Victor Meldrew saying “How awful” or “What rubbish,” pray blessing on them.

The outcome of our prayers is that we live in a  world where we can be gentle and peaceful not just quiet uncomfortable at but at peace with what is going on.  A world where there is space for reverence  and solemnity or dignity.  In other words we pray for our world so that we may live in a world that where there are
1. Righteousness and justice.  A fairer, purer world
2. opportunities for others to receive God's salvation

2. Centring our prayer on the will of God
It's easy to pray our prayers to be focussed on the Church's internal affairs: for “revival” or for “Missionaries” or for our own sick folk.  We need to pray these things.  But we need to pray for our world: it particularly pleases our heavenly Father when we pray for our world.  We are praying within the will of God because God loves the world.

"God desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth"

There are two errors that quench our prayers and our witness.
Our history of Calvinism that thinks God has determined who gets saved – and who doesn't.  " God desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth"
Modern universalism that thinks everyone is going to be saved anyway.  Paul says there is one God and one mediator who can fix our relationship with God, Jesus who died for us.
Everyone needs to be saved and to know of the truth; but God wants everyone to be saved.

So we need to pray and we need to take action.  According to Alan Donaldson, the average church member never shares their faith.

3 .Character of the prayer warrior
In v. 8 to 14, superficially it looks as if Paul is saying "men have to pray, and women have to dress modestly, keep quiet and have babies."  And yes, the the “men” in v 8 means adult males, not   mankind.  We need to unpack the bit about women: then we'll come back to the men.
We have 3 choices in dealing with this passage
1. Throw it out because it doesn't fit in our world.
2. Take it literally and at face value for today, or
3. Interpreted carefully and find out what it really means. I believe that's what we need to do.

Paul wasn't laying down a rule for for all time. I say that for a number of reasons...
1. The example of Jesus: Mary sat at Jesus feet as a student with a Rabbi (Lk 10. 39) , and Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the risen Jesus (Jn 20. 17).
2. The clear teaching of Paul, for example in Gal 3.28.
3. The example of Paul who in Romans 16, refers to a number of women who had leadership gifts and responsibilities:  Phoebe (v. 1) was a servant of the Church who travelled far afield on its behalf; Priscilla was one of his fellow-workers (v. 3); Mary (v. 6) and Tryphena and Tryphosa (v. 12) worked hard; and Junia (v. 7) was outstanding among the apostles.
4. The passage itself: it does temporarily restrain women but contains the seeds of liberation.  Let's look a bit closer at it...

Look at the contrasting verbs inverse 11f;
1. “Let a woman learn” (v. 11) is a continuous command.  The very idea of “letting women learn”  was extremely radical at a time, when it was often considered a dangerous waste of money to teach a girl to read.
2. "I do not permit” by contrast, is a simple present tense.  "I am not permitting..." 
Paul has reasons in the first century why he needs to restrain women form “cashing in” too quickly on their freedom in Christ.  But the fact that they are learning implies that they will be able to use what they have learned.

Paul uses a teaching method that anchors ideas to three known points: creation fall and redemption
1. Creation : Man was made first. This implies headship. Where my head goes my body usually goes too. In birth, the head comes first, but the body follows behind.
2. Fall: Eve was deceived. Adam wasn't. He just disobeyed. Whose sin was greater?
3. Redemption. “Women shall be saved through childbearing.” This has embarrassed the church since at least 370 a.d.  Clearly Paul doesn't mean having babies saves women. That would be tough on those who have never had children.  Some people suggest that “childbearing” means the birth of Jesus. I think they are wrong.  The key to the text is the meaning of the word “through”.  In Greek as in English it can refer to cause and effect: “through no fault of your own.”  But the primary meaning is passage in space or time.  “Pushing through the crowd.”   We should use “through” in this way here.  Women will be saved, in the midst of pregnancy, morning sickness, broken nights and all the other things that crowd into their lives, if they hold on to Jesus.  In other words, womanhood is no obstacle to salvation.  Women are saved in exactly the same way men are.

In Ephesus, there were people who were messing up their own faith and the faith of others (1. 3ff, 20)  It is possible that some of these were pushing women forward despite their lack of knowledge.  Could it be that some of the men were too ready to take a back seat and let the women get on with things. Often the intercessors in the Church today are women.   However,  we are all prayer warriors. Men should play their part.  Many years ago we had ornaments Pam had brought back from Africa, that we suspected may have had occult connections, and we felt we had to break them up and burn them.  Pam hit them with the axe, but made no impression.  The I had a go and broke them.  Pam saw an acted parable in that: men need to exercise spiritual authority in prayer and warfare.  Men and women are different.  Even a skinny guy like me, has a bit of muscle.  Men, we need to learn hwo to use that spiritual muscle God has given us.

All are called to be holy, distinctive,  and united. Our prayers flow from being what we long to see in our world. And especially, men are to “man up”, flex their muscle, exercise headship, and pray.

© Gilmour Lilly September  2014

Acts 21. 17-40

Acts 21. 17-40

So, eventually, Paul arrives in Jerusalem, and meets up with the Elders of the Church there – maybe 70 of them as the Church numbered thousands. There's a moment of joy and celebration as Paul introduces the brothers from Asia and Greece – living evidence of God at work.  And he hands over the supportive financial gift from the Gentile churches  – evidence of Paul's and their ongoing concern and respect for the Jerusalem Church, even though it was different to the gentile churches.

Whoops:  rumour and compromise
But there's a concern that the elders feel they need to raise.  (verses 20-21 There's a rumour going round. It's being said  that Paul doesn't' care about the “Law;”  not only is he preaching to gentiles but he's even telling Jews to give up following the law of Moses.  It's a rumour.  It's not true.  The elders at Jerusalem should have stood with Paul, given him the opportunity to speak to the local believers, but instead – almost as if they are tempted to believe it themselves – they ask Paul to go through this ritual purification and pay for others' sacrifices, in order to demonstrate he was “sound”.

The Elders totally misread the situation: the action appears to have done nothing to warm the Hebraic Jews to Paul and his team.  Paul unwisely went along with it.  As far as he was concerned, he had taken vows before and could do so again. 

Yuk: The world in the Church.   
Rumour, suspicions, gossip, unconfirmed assumptions, in the church, and being acted on by the Elders.  So Paul is in and out of the Tempe for a week... and some of the Asian Jews who had a score to settle with Paul recognise him in the street, with a Gentile guy called Trophimus; then they see Paul in the temple, and assume Paul has taken Trophimus into the temple with him. (verse 27-29) Now there was part of the Temple where gentiles were allowed: it was called the Court of the Gentiles.  To go beyond that, you had to pass signs warning that no Gentiles were allowed, on pain of death.  The Romans tolerated it, and archaelologists have actually found two of these signs. So it's not even likely that Trophimus had accidentally wandered in there on his own, far less been conducted in by Paul.  It's a rumour, an unconfirmed assumption. 

What is sad is that the Church was doing exactly what the world was doing.  Gossip; rumour, unconfirmed assumptions. Then they melted into the background and let Paul handle things on his own.   They were more concerned about surviving in Jerusalem than about truth, about brotherly relationships or about the wider mission.  There was no Barnabas figure this time; nobody was prepared to take Paul's side.    That's the world in the church.  When I as a student I heard a prominent preacher condem “guitaar twanging, dressing like worldlings, and using modern idion in worship”.  He was missing the point.  The world in the Church is when we treat each other no different to who the world would. 

 Aha: With Jesus
The same “urban myth” that drove the Elders to ask Paul to go to the temple,  drives the people there to start a riot.  The way Luke describes the volatile situation in verses 30-31 reads very much like the riot in Ephesus, two chapters earlier.  One or two rabble-rousers, everyone running together, the whole city in uproar, people being grabbed and manhandled, one shouting one thing, on shouting another.  Not only was the Church no better than the world, but the behaviour of these Jews is no better than that of the pagans  some months previously: Jerusalem was  no better than Ephesus.  Paul has to be physically carried by the soldiers to prevent the crowd from tearing him limb from limb.  And the crowd are shouting “Kill him, get rid of him; Away with him!” Does that ring any bells?  The same word is used in John 19. 15.    What is happening to Paul is not only the same as had happened in Ephesus, it is also the same as had happened to Jesus.

That's a eureka moment for Paul: I believe its' a moment of destiny and realisation. If I was Paul, I'd be crying tears of joy at that moment: here he is, the chief of sinners, and what an honour, the crowds are saying the same thing about him as they said about Jesus.    This connects with the depth of Paul’s   This whole journey for Paul as a journey with Jesus.  James S Stewart, Scottish New Testament Theologian ranked ans the best preacher of the twentieth century, wrote that “union with Christ” is the “key which unlocks the secrets “ of Paul's soul.  He uses the phrase “In Christ” 82 times.  Union with Christ
Deals with his past: There is no condemnation for those who are In Christ. (Rom 8. 1)
Gives him an identity in the present: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.   (Gal 2. 20)
Gives him a future hope.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil 1. 21. )

Whee: a moment of opportunity.
So when he manages to get the Roman Officer's attention, the last thing on Paul's mind is saving his skin.  But he does want human contact with this guy... so he asks  “May I say something to you?”

Now, three years earlier, an Egyptian adventurer had tried to stage a coup in Jerusalem: he had gathered thousands of supporters.  He had told them the walls of Jerusalem would fall down at his  command (a bit like the story of Joshua at Jericho) and then they were to march in and kick the Romans out.  The walls didn't fall down, the Romans heard about the mob, killed some and arrested others.  The Egyptian disappeared. The officer assumed that this Egyptian had turned up in the Temple,  where he was not  popular and people had immediately wanted to lynch him.  Imagine his surprise when his “Egyptian” spoke with an educated Greek accent, politely asking for a hearing.  

“You mean you speak Greek – so you're not that crazy Egyptian?” 

No, I'm Jewish, raised in Tarsus, a respectable, self-governing city in Cilicia..  I know I'm under arrest an all – but do you mind if I speak to the crowd for a minute or two?” 

And maybe because the officer was caught off guard, maybe because he was satisfied Paul was a decent sort of guy, he gave him permission to speak.  God is at work – even in a desperate situation.  There was a moment of opportunity to say something for Jesus.  So speaking in Aramaic, the common language of the area, Paul begins to tell his story. 

Yeah:  riding the wave...
Like he has been since the moment he put his trust in Jesus., indeed like Jesus. himself at Gethsemane,   Paul knows and accept s that god's plan is working out....  he's not fighting it. He's not hiding from it.   He's riding the wave.

Its' a pretty scary wave to be riding.  Paul is in real danger.   The forces against him are confusing  – superficially respectable but actually quite pagan and satanic.    He's not even too sure the Jerusalem Church is really with  him.   His ally here is a Roman Colonel who wasn’t too good at checking his facts.  But Paul is riding that wave: he uses what he has – Roman Citizenship, Greek education and Jewish culture, to tell the people not only of his innocence but about the Good news of Jesus. He's not pleading for his life – he's pleading for theirs.

We need to become surfers – who will ride the waves god sends along – even if these waves are scary; dangerous; uncertain; in our families, in our streets, to take the opportunities we get, to talk about Jesus, to pray in his name for people, to do “kingdom” things, show the Father's love.  And leave the consequences to the Holy Spirit.


© Gilmour Lilly September  2014