A Christmas Pentecost! Luke 1. 26-38 (Advent 1)

I wonder if you are ever tempted to ask that question?  "How can this be?" not in unbelief like Zechariah but in a genuine search for answers.   I don't really blame Mary. What God asked of her was somewhat daunting. She wanted to ask God, how can this happen. We too want to know how the things God promises can become reality in our lives.  Things like...

1. Receiving Jesus
The angel promised Mary that she would become pregnant and give birth to a son and call him Jesus... She says, "How can this be?"    The angel's answer: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you ad the power of the most high will overshadow you."   "Mary, you will have this gift of Jesus because the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

We often hear Christians talking about "asking Jesus to come into their hearts."   How can this be?"   The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts. It is he, the active power of the Most High, overshadowing us, who brings Jesus into our hearts.

Someone once came asking Jesus how to have eternal life. Jesus answered, "You need to be born again".  The man, called Nicodemus, answered, "How can this be?"   Jesus' answer was the same. "The Holy Spirit." (John 3. 6)

The Holy Spirit is at work whenever a person receives Jesus into their lives, whenever a person is "born again."  Becoming a Christian, being born again, receiving Jesus (all different ways of saying the same thing) is a Holy Spirit event.  That's why Paul says we all (as Christians) have the Spirit of Christ. If someone doesn't have the Holy Sprit he does not belong to Jesus. (Rom 8.9) I don't believe in what is sometimes called "second blessing theology." I don't believe we receive Jesus and then receive the Holy Spirit later.  When we receive Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who comes. But there is always more of the Holy Spirit to receive.

2. Incarnation
The angel invited Mary to be part of this amazing thing we call the "incarnation."  God becoming flesh. "The one born to you will be called 'Son of the Highest'". She says, "How can this be?"    The angel's answer: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."   "Mary, you are to play your part in God becoming flesh because the Holy Spirit will come upon you"

We have the challenge today of being incarnational, missional, as Christians and as a church.   In our Mission statement we have agreed that God calls us to "Learning to show the Father's love."  We are called to Discipleship, Demonstration, getting Deeper with God and Dealing with people in love.  "How can this be?"   It is the Holy Spirit at work within us who will make us incarnational. It is as the power of the Most High overshadows us that we will be enabled to be God's hands and feet in Rosyth, "learning to show the Father's love."


3. The Kingdom
The angel told Mary that her son would "reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there will be no end."   She says, "How can this be?"    The angel's answer: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you ad the power of the most high will overshadow you."   "Mary, you are to play your part in the breaking in of the Kingdom of God because the Holy Spirit will come upon you."

The Kingdom is for all the world, for all people. Jesus taught the Kingdom, lived the Kingdom, demonstrated the Kingdom, and then before he died to entrusted the "Keys" of the Kingdom to his followers.  And we, today, are called to continue to sow seeds of the Kingdom in the world we live in.  There is plenty of injustice, plenty of pain, plenty of fear, in our world.  We are to keep sowing seeds of "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit", which are the substance of The Kingdom of God.  "How shall this be?" It is the Holy Spirit that will bring the kingdom to our world though our prayers, our ministry, our service in the world; it is by the power of the Spirit that the sick can be healed and the demons driven out; it is by the power of the Spirit that injustice can be toppled; it is the Holy Spirit who will bring the final, complete triumph of God's Kingdom in due course.

The Christmas season is a very Pentecostal season. Luke in particular emphasises the Holy Spirit's work. The story of Mary emphasises the connection of the work of the Spirit, with the major theological themes of the new birth, the incarnation, and the coming of the Kingdom:. And we are connected with these theological themes.  They are our themes.  They should be part of our lives.

That means the Holy Spirit should be part of our lives; he should be welcomed in our lives.  We need to say to him "I want to be God's servant. Let it happen to me according to your word."  Then let the Holy Spirit ruin you.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2011

1 Corinthians 13. Dealing with people in Loving relationships

The first time we meet the person who wrote these words, he is a young man full of hatred.  Saul of Tarsus, a proud, well-read Jew fanatically opposed to the message of Jesus Christ; watching with cold-hearted loathing as others stone to death a Christian leader called Stephen. Then he's organising a systematic round-up of Christians, and on his way to Damascus with a list of suspects in his pocket, he meets with Jesus, and is ruined, blinded, helpless. He doesn't know friendship. He has simply "men who were traveling with him" (Acts 9:7, cf the other two records of the same story in Acts 22. 9 and 26.13). They lead him into Damascus, and shortly there is a knock at the door, and someone is shown into the room where Saul is praying, trying to figure out what to do with his life. This visitor is Ananias - one of the people in Saul's list. And Ananias says ""Brother Saul..." As soon as Saul encountered Jesus he had a brother. Ananias took him seriously, believed in him, and introduced him to the other believers in Damascus. Later, An older believer called Barnabas took Saul on a mission trip, again believing in him and encouraging him. A wee while later, another young Christian called Mark joined them; Mark had let them down, bottling out and running away. Saul, by now called Paul, wouldn't give a second chance to Mark, and as a result he and Barnabas fell out... but later that was put behind them and Mark became a great help to Paul.  Out of these experiences came what someone has called "one of the most strikingly original things Paul ever wrote," this wonderful meditation about love, which finds its place in 1 Corinthians.

Love is Essential. Verse 2.  "If I have not love, I am nothing. If I have not love, I gain nothing." What do we have, and what do we gain without love? NOTHING! It's more important than gifts like tongues or prophecy; it's more important than education or understanding; it's more important than traditionally "good things" like Christian giving. "I can turn everything I own into morsels of food for the hungry... but without love I gain nothing." Professor FF Bruce said "A Christian community can make shift somehow if the 'gifts' of chapter 12 be lacking: it will die if love is absent." The church can muddle through without gifts, without education and insight, and without having a programme to give to TEARFund; but without love we are nothing.

Love is Substantial. Paul sees love as something that you either have or do not have. As Bible teacher James Jordan says, "Love is stuff."  It is real, nourishing as a fish supper of haggis and neeps; refreshing as Irn Bru or ginger beer; solid and reliable as a mountain.  Paul says, "God has poured out his love into our hearts" (Rom 5. 5).  It's either there or it's not there.  And its stuff that lasts.  (Verses 8-13)  Sometimes we talk about love as something you can fall into - and fall back out of.  But real love is something that lasts. It is more than Sentiment.  You can have sentiment without love.  But you can't have love without some sentiment, some feeling.  And it is more than sacrifice. You can have sacrifice without love. Paul talks about giving everything away, surrendering your body to be burned but not having love. But you can't have love without sacrifice.  We'll learn a bit more about that later.

Love is behavioural. Paul describes fourteen qualities of "love"
1. Love is patient.  Longsuffering.
2Love is kind; makes itself useful to people.
3. Love does not envy - does not get into rivalry over who is best...
4. Love does not boast; (empty bragging)
5. Love is not arrogant  (puffed up, doesn't have a swelled head (Msg)
6. Love is not rude. (does not act in an unseemly way; "ain't misbehavin'")
7. Love does not insist on its own way; goes beyond simply "looking after number one" Isn't always "me first," (Msg)
8. Love is not irritable -  not easily angered. Not given to paroxysms of rage. Not easily stirred up. You know what it's like to be stirred up. When I get stirred up it takes tact and diplomacy to calm me down.    Doesn't fly off the handle, (Msg)
9. Love is not resentful; doesn't reckon up the wrong things people have done in order to pay them back.    Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, (Msg)
10. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing. There is no room for gloating or scorn when people make mistakes. Doesn't revel when others grovel,   (Msg)  Instead, Love rejoices with the truth. Love is thrilled and affirming when someone gets something right.
11. Love bears all things, suffers in silence when it is wronged.
12. Love believes all things, always ready to believe the best
13. Love hopes all things, hopes against hope
14. Love endures all things. Never looks back, but keeps going to the end.  (Msg)
Now each of these is a matter of character. They define our behaviour. They are about how we deal with people. There can be a lot of  sacrifice in forgiving, letting things go, not getting angry, being patient and generous with people.

Love is relational. You can't do love in a vacuum. Love is about connectedness, about presence, communication, encounter, developing relationships.  Some of these qualities - like patience, hope and endurance - may be there when we are all alone.  The person who is stuck on a desert island or in solitary confinement for their faith, need patience, hope and endurance. But most of these qualities are only meaningful in situations with other people, and all of them can affect  how we deal with people. We can't have love without dealing with people.  We can't have love in isolation.  It is in relating with people, getting along in a community of people who are diverse and different, that love is put to the test and becomes the substantial, meaningful thing it is meant to be.  That's why love is eternal, goes on forever, even when we are with Jesus in glory: because we will be eternally part of a redeemed community. In accepting the Mission Statement that says, "Learning to show the Father's love," we accept that the essential nature of life together is relational. It is about dealing with people as people. It is not just about propping up the institution of the church.  Love is character in relationship. It is the character of Jesus in our relationship with each other and with our neighbours. It defines how we deal with each other. It defines how we deal with people who are not yet Christians.

Ouch. This is demanding. It is tough. If love is stuff, were does it come from? How can I get "Love" in my life?  How can I show the character of God?  How can this "love" infuse my dealing with people?

What are the keys? I believe there are three...
1. The story...  Paul's story was that he had gone from being highly principled but remote, distant, friendless, to being someone recognized as a "Brother".  I can't prove this but I believe that the day eh met Jesus on the road to Damascus was the first time in his life that Saul of Tarsus knew the reality of unconditional, accepting love, from his heavenly father and from a courageous brother called Ananias. That story of being loved, should surely draw love from us.  Jesus once had a woman pour out her expensive perfume at his feet. He responded (Luke 7:47) "her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." It's in our story of being loved that we are released to love.
2. The Spirit... Paul slips this love meditation right in the middle of his teaching in the work of the Spirit.  The last thing Paul mentions before launching into the love passage is "gracelets" (gifts); and the first thing he moves onto when he has finished the love passage is "Spirituals" (gifts) Love is a work of the spirit. Rom 5:5, which we quoted earlier, says, "God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us."
3. Sensitising our souls. Paul says "Pursue love". (1 Cor 12. 1) Time for a Greek lesson. The Greek word pursue is dioko, from which we get diakonos meaning a "deacon", who is literally "someone who runs errands".   Chase after love. Serve it. Run errands for it. In other words you need to co-operate with the Spirit - not quench his gifts, and not quench either, the love he wants to bring. (1 Thess 5. 9) Allow your whole being to be sensitised to the promptings of love. And love will begin to grow within your heart and to affect how you deal with people.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2011

Love and Sacrifice - No Greater Love: John 15. 12-17

 To get into the meaning of these words, I want to tell you their story. Jesus is having a meal with his friends. He has broken bread and said, "This is my body"; he has poured out wine and said, "This is my blood".  He has already said (John 14. 31) let's go from here.  Every Greek speaker recognised these as heroic words, the words that a group of men would say before going out to meet an advancing enemy. Forces were conspiring to get rid of Jesus. A company of temple guards were going on duty at that moment, ready to march to the garden of Gethsemane to arrest him.  It's the last night of Jesus earthly life with the disciples. "No greater love..." Jesus was speaking about himself.  In less than 24 hours he will be dead.  Not the end of the story.  He would rise again, but only after three days lying in the dust of death.  We must not let that soften the reality of his death. There's no greater love than to lay down your lei for a friend.  That's the story behind these words.  It's Jesus' love, Jesus sacrifice, for his friends: Jesus is talking about himself. He says, "You are my friends..." the One who laid down his life is Jesus.  


The point is that this is the measure of love. There is no other way of defining love. You can start with how you feel towards the girl or boy of your dreams. Amy Winehouse recorded in 2003
There is no greater love 
Than what I feel for you 
No sweeter song, no heart so true...
There is no greater thrill 
Than what you bring to me ...
(But it was a cover of a song written in the 1930's and sung in 1947 by an equally tragic female singer called Billie Holiday.) And we know it's rubbish. People spend years feeling let down by romantic love.  


You can start with the sacrifice of a young airman in the Battle of Britain. The words, "There is no greater love..." have been much used, on war memorials and at acts of remembrance But it's all wrong. It's too little, too insignificant.  These loves are all just a pale reflection, like a badly taken photograph of the real thing. The definition of love is God's love.   John summed it up later in a letter: 1 John 4. 10. This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and gave his son to be the means by which our sins are taken away. This is how you define love. When John says "God loved us" he doesn't mean that God doesn't love us any more. What he means is that God loves us so much that he focussed that eternity of love, in one short period of time when he sent his son, Jesus to be the way our sin is sorted out. The NIV says he sent his Son as an "atoning sacrifice".  John uses a very difficult Greek word and translators have fallen out over how to translate it. The AV says "propitiation".  The RSV Says "Expiation." Nobody who lives in the real world knows what either of these words mean.  The point of the original word is this:  God sent his son, to make amends for our sin.  We messed up. We were embarrassed, ashamed and afraid.  We wanted to make amends for what we had done.  And god made amends instead.  That's what it says. 

by Peter Fleuth.
In Public Domain

Imagine it.  Through carelessness and disregard to the rules, you wreck your friend's unique limited edition guitar made in Chicago.  So you offer to make it right: "how can I make amends? How can I make it right? I'll pay to get it fixed, I'll borrow money from all my mates and get you a new one."  And you friend says, "Here's how to make it right. I want to travel to Chicago, visit the factory in Chicago personally and order a new guitar; I'll stay in Chicago for a few weeks while it's being made; collect it and fly home. And I don't want to do that trip on my own so you will come with me.  That's how to make amends. And, I will pay for it, for both of us. It will be my treat. That will make amends. Accept my offer, and I'll put the whole thing behind me."   But it's even more outrageous than that. Because God gave more than a fortune, more than a King's ransom, he gave the King himself.  His Son died to make amends for our sin. 


Isn't that amazing.  Breathe that in. that is how much the Father loves you.  That is how much Jesus loves you.  Breathe it in. Let it change you. Accept his offer today.  Can we get a handle on the extravagance of grace? Can we realise how much the father loves us?   


Poet Luci Shaw talks about the despair we feel when we realise like Peter did that we have messed up and goes on
but if we find grace
to cry and wait
after the voice of the morning 
has crowed in our ears
clearly enough
to break our hearts
he will be there
to ask us each again
do you love me


(from Judas Peter by Luci Shaw)

That's God's love. That's Jesus' love. That's father's love.  We mess up; he makes amends.  He puts all the mess behind him, when we accept his offer of love.  We mess up, over and over again, and he welcomes us back , over and over again.  That's grace. And God has always got grace.  When he asks "Do you love me?" it's a healing question. He doesn't ask us in order to condemn us. He asks us "do you love me" in order to bring us to the place of complete dependence on him.  And then we realise the depth of grace and our hearts almost explode with love. 


God's sacrificial love calls out from us a sacrificial love for each other and for the world God loves. 


In the Gospel, the words "no greater love" are sandwiched between 
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, (John 15:12) 
and
These things I command you, so that you will love one another (John 15:17)


In John's letter, the words about God's love are sandwiched between these words
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1Jn 4:8)  
and
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1Jn 4:11)  




The amazing, sacrificial love of God, draws out from us a sacrificial love for one another, measured by the love Jesus had for us.  It's that simple really.  An outpouring of love. An extravagance of love. A generous love; a love that forgives, that builds bridges, makes amends for the sins of others. A love that, when we are sinned against, goes and puts things right.  It's not optional: it's a commandment. But it's not a rule it's a response. 


And as we learn to live in love, we learn to function fruitfully. Loving each other, along with prayer (v 7, 16), staying close to Jesus (v, 4) letting him snip away at the rubbish in our lives (v.2) is key to bearing fruit.  Sacrificial love within the Church is part of mission. It's part of spirituality.  As we walk in love, we find we are bearing fruit.  By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another? 


© Gilmour Lilly November 2011

Deeper with God... (Spirituality)

 "Learning to show the Father's love..." 

Matthew 6

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength..." was the first and greatest commandment.  We celebrated it in our opening worship today. And Jesus said that this remains the first and greatest commandment.  John says he is writing something that is both old and new. (1 John 2. 27) rooted in the fact that "God is love".... Love is not something God does. It is what he is.   And that covenant has always been a covenant of grace, but it has been a veiled grace. Paul speaks about the way when the old covenant is read, a veil remains over people's faces and minds (2 Cor 3.14) In Jesus there is a "new Covenant".   However, with Jesus, something completely new arrives.  The really new thing, the amazing new thing about the way Jesus describes going deeper with God is found in one word: "Father". A couple of weeks ago we were learning about the importance of "Being like our heavenly father..."   After making that point in Matthew 5, Jesus goes on in Chapter 6, to talk about "heart stuff". He is concerned with what is going on inside.    Over and over again in Chapter six, as he describes the kind of "heart surgery" that we need in order to go deeper with God, the way life should b as disciples, he talks about God as Father.  Ten times in chapter six... Jesus spirituality means knowing God as father.  Let's look at what that implies.

Firstly, about acceptance.  

There were people around in Jesus' day - as there still are - who do religious things, like giving generously (verses 1-4) praying regularly (verses 5-6), and fasting (verses 17-18), for all the wrong reasons: so that other people could see them and be impressed - maybe even intimidated - with how generous and holy they were

We need spiritual disciplines.  They are good for our inner lives.  I recommend giving things away.  A few years ago when we were kind of struggling financially as a church, the Lord gave me a clear word, and it was this "give 'till it stops hurting."  The Lord loves a hilarious giver. (2 Cor 9. 7)  We need to pray, not just when we feel like it but in a disciplined way, regularly. Fasting is not something I find easy. When my stomach gets empty, my head gets sore.  But fasting - whether from food, luxuries like chocolate, or activities like TV, challenges our appetites and exposes our physical and behavioural addictions...

But, it's not about impressing the people around us. And it's not about impressing our heavenly father. We don't need to impress him. He sees in secret. (verse 4, 6, 18) He sees what is going on in our hearts. And he loves us. He accepts us.    Isn't that releasing?

Isn't impressing people a real drag; doesn't it wear you out?  I love to cook a really good curry and see people enjoy it. I like the Scottish voice on the sat-nav that says at the end of the journey "nice driving, mate". It's better than the Dalek one that says, "You have reached your destination. Get out of the vehicle, earthling."  It's good to get the worship right, the teaching relevant and helpful.  It's good to encourage those who lead worship or teach or make cakes.  Some of us are not good at giving that; some of us are not good at receiving it. Some of us need it because we never received it from parents when we were growing up. But it's good to do what we do out of a flow of love to our heavenly father. He sees and knows and rewards.  We don't need to impress him. He accepts us, just as we are. He is pleased with you today.

Secondly, about intimacy.

I was shocked recently to hear that the average British Church leader spends 4 minutes each day reading God's word and 2 minutes each day in prayer. If I was to ask you how many minutes you spend each day praying, would we all be embarrassed? Don't we struggle with prayer? Be honest!  Loads of people are afraid to pray in public because they feel they can't get the words right.  But getting the words right could even get in the way. Jesus said when you pray, don't pile up loads of empty words, as thought you had to make God hear you. You don't need to shout. You don't need to make a speech.  Father knows what you need before you ask so you don't even need to tell him what needs to be done.  There's no point in piling on the words.  We don't have to "persuade" God to answer our prayers.  We don't have to cajole him. You don't have to use big words to pray.  

Prayer is a simple matter of saying "Father, you're in heaven and you're great, and even your name is special, we have such a privilege to simply come to you... God we want to see what you want happening, on this earth just like it is in heaven.  Keep on giving us what we need, and forgive the rubbish in our lives, just like we forgive the people who dump their rubbish in our lives. When hard times come don't let us drift away from you but keep us safe from the devil, because you deserve all the glory..." That's the Lord's Prayer. It's simple.  It's a child's cry to daddy; it's a son's conversation with Dad.  Prayer isn't about getting things; it isn't about making things happen.  I have no doubt prayer does make things happen. God does answer; and he does sometimes wait until we pray. But at its core, it is about intimacy and dependency. Father knows what you need before you ask. And Father wants to hang out with you.    

Thirdly, it's about transformation.

At the end of the Lord's Prayer are two little sentences that are quite disturbing. (Verses 14-15) Father will forgive - if we forgive.  It seems like father is suddenly getting picky and conditional in his love.  If we forgive, he will forgive. If we don't forgive, he will not forgive. But if we don't' forgive, we are trying to function within another kind of pattern. We are trying to function under a covenant of law. And we simply can't have both law and grace in our lives. If we invoke law, we close the door to grace. Not that God is picky. But we just cannot be two things at the same time. We cannot be saved by grace and live by keeping the law. We can't be saved by grace and treat other people according to the law. It is not a matter of "keeping the rules" but of choosing who we will hang out with. And as we hang out with father, we become like him. When I don't feel I want to be like Father, because I am cross with someone, what happens? I lose the intimacy.  I stop hanging out with him.

The relationship we have with Father is meant to be a transforming relationship.  The grace that we receive transforms us. Being forgiven, really forgiven, transforms us. When we go for grace, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us.  And his activity inside us, transforms us, heals us.     The outcome of all that is that we behave and live differently. "Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship." If we are simply ourselves before God, he welcomes us - and changes us. It's about transformation.

Fourthly, it's about trust.  

Consider the birds (verse 26) He's just a wee dunnock: but isn't he splendid? He's just a robin, but isn't he smart?  "Your heavenly Father feeds the birds...How much more will he feed you" We're kind of tempted to run about getting things, looking after things, worrying about material things.

Yes, there is a world economic crisis at this time; jobs are harder to find and money doesn't go so far.  Jesus doesn't say he will make these circumstances go away.  Not at all.  He says, "In the world you will have trouble. But don't be afraid, I have overcome the world." (John 16. 33)  In the midst of the series of crises, (which put us in a similar place to the earliest disciples who lived a world where there was much poverty, no pensions, no health service and no social security) Jesus calls us, instead of panicking, to trust our heavenly father.  "Your Father knows you need all these things.

And if you trust him and seek his Kingdom, "all these things" will be yours as well  (verse 33). He is faithful, reliable. You can trust him. It is Father's pleasure to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12. 32)

Being a disciple of Jesus isn't a matter of impressing anyone, of doing all the right things all the time or even of doing things right. Spirituality is a walk with Father.  If we have lived with critical, distant, chaotic, unreliable Fathers, God wants to heal us and wrap us in his loving arms.  He wants us to know him as our Heavenly father.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2011