Sharing a Passion for Life: Psalm 22 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

We are two weeks away from Passion for Life and four weeks from Easter. I hope you are looking forward to both. Easter has become, in the minds of most people, the day to give and receive chocolate eggs and look forward to Spring. The link with its Christian origins is increasingly shrouded in mystery, although, after Christmas Day, it is the day people are most likely to attend church if they ever do. People may misunderstand the good news but they are strangely attracted to it. It is our privilege to be ambassadors of Christ. It is our privilege to explain God’s passion for life so that others may come to know and love him too. We enjoyed a lovely Summer holiday last year in the South of France. The scenery was stunning, the climate warm, the food… expensive. When we got home we could not stop talking about it, showing off the photos, planning our next visit. This week Mike showed me how to get TV programmes on my phone. Amazing. I could not stop showing other people what my phone can do. Good news is infectous. That is why I am less and less enamoured with teaching evangelism. Because it is not about technique.

I am more and more convinced that as we contemplate the passion God has for us, our joy and thankfulness will motivate us to share that good news naturally and infectiously with others. That is why I would like us to spend a few moments contemplating Psalm 22. If people know one passage of the Bible, it is most likely Psalm 23. And yet for many believers, Psalm 22 is the most precious of all the Psalms, for it reveals the passion of God which made possible the promises of God contained in Psalm 23.

No one can read Psalm 22 without being vividly confronted with the Crucifixion. It is not only the way the prophecy is so minutely fulfilled, but the humility of the One suffering that stands out. There is no plea for personal vindication against evil doers as is common to other psalms, only his vision of a worldwide ingathering of the Gentiles accomplished by this sacrifice. One translation entitles it, “The Suffering Servant wins the deliverance of the nations.” It cannot be stated more profoundly or accurately. The Cost of the Gospel is here foretold. No incident in the life of David can begin to account for this Psalm. It is not a description of an illness but an execution. Indeed a means of execution unknown in the time of David. In the Old Testament capital punishment was implemented by stoning, or the sword. Hanging from a tree was forbidden, since it was a sign of God’s curse, and polluted the land. Ironically that’s precisely why Christ died in this way. He did not pollute the land, mankind had. His death did not pollute, just the reverse, it cleanses all who stand under it.

The language of this Psalm defies naturalistic explanations. The best way to interpret it is in the way Peter does in Acts 2:30, “David was a prophet and knew that God had promised on oath that He would place one of His descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the Christ.” (Acts 2:30)

The death of the Lord Jesus Christ had been planned before the beginning of time, and in this Psalm written by the greatest of Israel’s kings, 1000 years before the time of Christ, we can focus down on those last six hours of the most important day in history, the day that changed the world. A more exact expression of the Redeemer’s thoughts and feelings during the awful six hours on the cross of Calvary cannot be found in all the Scriptures.

Read more here

Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus:
Receiving Communion Faithfully (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Hands up if you were here last Sunday at 11.00am. Good. I think we have some unfinished business from last week. Our Spring sermon series is entitled what? Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus.  Remember the theme last week? “The Joy of Serving”.  Now judging by some of your faces, and the number of response forms you gave Lesley, it seems some of you have yet to experience the joy of serving. Do you remember the difference between the wise and foolish builder in Jesus’ other parable? I wasn’t as direct in the application as I should have been.  I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of the Lord.
He expects each and every one of us not only to hear him but also… put into practice what he says. He wants us all to serve him in and through his church. Now if you are not yet a believer, I’m not talking to you. If you are just passing through, I’m not talking to you either – at least not yet. But if you consider yourself a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ (or you want to be) and you consider yourself a member of Christ Church, please hear me.  God is speaking to you right now. Don’t be like the foolish builder or like the lawyer who wanted to debate with Jesus. He heard lots of sermons but he didn’t what? Put them into practice. Right. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to build wisely – to serve joyfully. I don’t want you to miss out on the joy of serving.  I know you took the serving leaflet home.

I know you filled it in, or at least you thought about it, you planned to, but you forgot. You just forgot to return it. That’s OK. We all do it. We live busy stressful lives all week and when we come to church we switch off… But I don’t any more sleepless nights worrying about you missing out on the joy of serving for one more week. So, help me get to sleep tonight. Take time over coffee to fill in one of those little biddy serving leaflets and slip it into Lesley’s hand and make her day.  Or if you feel embarrassed, just slip it onto her desk while she’s not looking. Then you too can experience the joy of serving on one or more of our teams.

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The Joy of Serving: Matthew 25 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Do you know why dogs and cats are so different? A dog looks at you with those big brown eyes, cocks its head to one side and says to itself, “You love me, you feed me, you care for me, you take me for walks… you must be God”. A cat looks at you with those piercing green eyes and thinks to itself “You love me, you feed me, you care for me, you stroke me … I must be God”.

There are cat people and there are dog people. There are tennis people and there are golf people. Some people like to sleep with the windows open and some people prefer to sleep with the windows closed – and they are usually married to each other. Some people keep a pen and notepad by the telephone while other people just have children. There are breakfast people and there are people who don’t remember what breakfast is. There are A type people and there are the rest of you. There are Tigger people and there are Eyore people. There are blue sky optimist people and there are chicken little – sky falling in people. And every team has at least one of each. When it comes to finances, some are cheque book people and some are cash people. There are Harrods people and there are T.K. Maxx people. There are Waitrose shoppers and Aldi shoppers. There are carefully balanced every month cheque book people and there are shut the cheque account down every two years and start over people. There are people with stock brokers and there are people perfectly capable of going broke without them. And you know who you are. Jesus says that ultimately, there are only two kinds of people – the sheep people and the goat people. Do you know which you are?

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)

Lets find out how Jesus distinguishes one from the other. And lets make sure we know which we are and which we want to be. We can make five simple observations from this passage:

Read more here cc-vw.org/sermons/matthew25.htm

Ecclesiastes: Is Life Really Worth Living? from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Ecclesiastes 1: Is Life Worth Living?

I wonder whether you saw the New Year in at a party? When people have had a glass or two you often find out what they really think. I heard of a guest at a rather noisy party, who approached his hostess to complain, “I find the whole situation absurd,” he shouted rather loudly over the din, “no-one here seems to realise how silly they look all dressed up, how pathetic their little lives really are, their behaviour is so grotesque…their small talk is so…so superficial…” “Ah,” said the hostess, smiling sweetly, “you must join the sociologists in the far corner. The rest of us realised all that a long time ago but we decided to ignore it and just enjoy the party….”  Ecclesiastes was written by a man who decided not to ignore reality any longer but joined the deviants in the corner who are confronting the absurdity of life. And he invites us to listen in on their conversation. The first verse suggests this is the work of King Solomon but most commentators doubt it. The writer gives himself the name qoheleth which is translated teacher (TNIV) or preacher (ESV). For convenience, I am going to assume it is Solomon. What matters is that we read this as an autobiographical journey by someone in search of meaning in life.  In the opening chapter, Solomon introduces us to three people, a scientist, an historian and a philosopher, who each help him to answer the ultimate question, “Is life worth living?”

And Solomon gives us his answer in verse 2, even before asking the question. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Eccl.1:2)

This is like a detective novel in which the writer begins by telling you who did it then proceeds to reveal how they did it and how the clues fit together.  While popular in fiction, few people are really comfortable with this “Sherlock Holmes” style of ruthless elementary deduction when applied to real life.

During the Spring when we explore Ecclesiastes together, we are going to unmask some of our fantasies and take off our rose tinted spectacles. Ecclesiastes does not allow us to escape back into our Disney make-believe world where the blood is only tomato ketchup, and everyone rides off into the sunset, living happily ever after.

A hard look at life can be very disconcerting. Have you noticed the way the TV news typically ends? The news will move from a story about army casualties through a road side bomb in Afghanistan, to a suicide bombing of a mosque in Pakistan, to the latest revelations of Iran’s clandestine nuclear programme to a devastating cyclone in the Philippines, then, almost without a pause, we move to the latest cricket and rugby scores, and then with a smile and a shuffle of papers we end “on a lighter note” with a trivial or eccentric story with a happy ending… and in a millisecond it’s straight into the make-believe world of the adverts. T.S. Eliot rightly warned that “humankind cannot bear very much reality.”

But bear it we must if people are to realise that the message of Jesus Christ is good news. You cannot save a drowning man if he does not realise his predicament. Francis Schaeffer, the most influential 20th Century Christian philosopher, once wrote,

“There is a time, and ours is such a time, when a negative message is needed before anything positive can begin…People often say to me, “What would you do if you met a really modern man on a train and you had just an hour to talk to him about the gospel?” I would spend forty-five or fifty minutes on the negative, to show him his real dilemma-to show him that he is more dead than even he thinks he is…Then I would take ten or fifteen minutes to tell him the gospel…Unless he understands what is wrong, he will not be ready to listen, and understand the positive.”

This is the stance that Ecclesiastes takes. Solomon drags us through the pointlessness of life without God, often with great humour. We greatly misunderstand this book if we imagine that Solomon is merely a cynic. He never lets us forget that the posture he is taking is not a divine viewpoint. Rather it is the rationale of a secular person looking at the world with all its problems, horizontally. Or, as Solomon puts it 27x from “under the sun.”  He does not accept these secular assumptions. He is deliberately putting on the mantle of the secular mind to force us to think the way the world thinks, and takes us to the logical end of such a world view.

It may be uncomfortable, even disconcerting, to deliberately try and imagine the world without God, but this we need to do if we are to identify with our family and friends who avoid God.

Who think the Church irrelevant. We are going to find that Ecclesiastes will help us a great deal to get into the mind of the unchurched Harry and Mary. There are some amazing similarities between cultures separated by thousands of years and thousands of miles. Human nature does not change with the colour of the skin. Solomon, would have concurred with the view of Black Elk, the great Sioux religious leader, “Everything an Indian does is in a circle”,

he said, “Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood.” For centuries, wise people in different cultures have been pondering the mysteries of the “circles” of human life. Whenever you use phrases like “life cycle“, or “the wheel of fortune,” or “come full circle,” you are taking a cyclical view of life and nature.  If life is only part of a great cycle over which we have no control, what’s the point? Why carry on? “Eat, drink and be merry…” (Eccl. 8:15). While much of the world, for most of the time ignores such questions, pretending life is one long party, lets return to the corner of the room and overhear the conversation between Solomon and his friends, a scientist, an historian and a philosopher, debating the ultimate question.  Solomon looked at the cycle of life “under the sun” and he came to three bleak conclusions.

From the view point of the scientist, nothing in life is changed (1:4-7); in the opinion of the historian nothing is new (1:8-11), and in the experience of the philosopher, nothing is understood (1:12-18).

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The Purpose of Christmas: Celebration from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

What do you do for an encore on the Day After Tomorrow? As a follow-up to Doomsday, Armageddon or Independence Day? If your name is Roland Emmerich then it had to be producing the apotheosis of all disaster movies, 2012. To be more precise, the 21st December 2012, i.e, tomorrow, in two years time. Because that’s the day the Mayan “Long Count” calendar ends. On that day, in the film at least, a solar storm results in changes in the Earth’s core, triggering gigantic earthquakes, super-volcanoes, and truly apocalyptic disasters. I confess – I enjoyed the film – if you can ever ‘enjoy’ a portrayal of the end of the world. The wide screen set pieces are literally jaw-dropping. The heroes race through a disintegrating landscape, literally riding a rolling cataclysm consuming the earth directly under their wheels. Crumbling skyscrapers, tumbling vehicles and heaving shelves of rock, slide whole cities into the abyss or beneath the waves. The other memorable scene occurs when a crack runs the length of the Sistine Chapel ceiling—directly between the adjacent fingers of God and Adam. Outside, a crowd of thousands keep vigil in St. Peter’s Square. They hold candles, while the pope looks down from his balcony and a group of cardinals pray within the basilica. But St. Peter’s, along with the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio, go the way of all landmarks in an Roland Emmerich film.

Is he making a religious statement? Well, probably, for, without giving too much away, the concluding scene resembles another well known story from Genesis. My worry is that the film typifies the “apocalyptic subculture” fuelled by books, websites, YouTube videos and movies at a time of heightened fear—about terrorism, al Qaeda, Iran, nuclear weapons and religious fundamentalism. Add to that climate change, global warming, natural disasters, disease pandemics, AIDS, the economic meltdown, the debt burden, diminishing fuel reserves and food shortages, and we are at the mercy of ‘chick-little’ gloom and doom prophets who predict the end of the world. Sadly some popular Christian writers seem just as determined to stir the pot and bring on death and destruction to our world. One day God will indeed wrap up history as we know. But that shouldn’t paralyze us. It should energise us. God doesn’t want to destroy this world. He wants to deliver us.

“God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11)

God is not mad with you. He is mad about you! That is the message of Christmas. You may have good reason for feeling uneasy or lonely or even depressed at Christmas. Maybe relationships are strained or uncomfortable. Maybe you will be alone this Christmas. Maybe you’re just exhausted, worn out from all that’s happened in your life this year. This Christmas, please know that God cares deeply about you. His purpose for Christmas really is the best news on earth. Beneath all the trappings of the Festive season there are some simple truths that will transform your life for the better now, and forever in eternity. Right now there’s nothing more important for you to understand than the purpose of Christmas. It is no accident that you are here. God planned your birth, and before you were even born, he knew this moment was coming. It may well be that all your life up to this moment has been preparing you to receive God’s Christmas gift. On the first Christmas night, the angels announced three purposes behind the birth of Jesus.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” (Luke 2:8-14)

Christmas is a time for celebration, a time for salvation and a time for reconciliation. Tonight we will dwell on the first. On Christmas Eve we will consider the other two. We have here an indication of the importance of this message in the number of angels who brought the announcement.

“A great company of the heavenly host appeared”. The words used to describe the number of angels indicates that there were thousands upon thousands of angels. For all we know there may have been millions. What does this tell us? It tells us of a God who is excited beyond our wildest imagination about coming to be with us, to be one of us, to rescue us, to save us, to restore us to a right relationship with him. The first purpose of Christmas therefore is celebration! That is why we say “Merry Christmas” Christmas is a celebration. Why? Because God had wonderful news to share: We learn this from the angel’s opening statement. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10). Observe first that it is personal: “I bring you.” Not only that but it is positive: “good news of great joy.” Good news. Positive, personal. And notice also it is universal: “for all the people.” For all the people, not just some people, not just good people, not just young people, beautiful people, articulate people, intelligent people, or religious people, but all people. So it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, where you’ve been, or where you’re headed — this news is for you. Its personal, its positive and its profligate. The angel brought the best news in the whole wide world for the whole wide world. The message of the angels is worth celebrating because it is greatest news ever told.
And what specifically is that good news? The good news of Christmas is three things. When God sent Jesus Christ to earth, He was saying three things. One, God loves us. Two, God is with us. Three, God is for us. Reason enough for mulled wine and mince pies tonight.

1. God loves us
The angels said “Do not be afraid”. Many people are afraid of God because of what they have done or because of what they have been taught. But that is not the message of Christmas. The most famous verse in the whole Bible is Jesus’ explanation of Christmas – why God sent him to earth.”God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) We are celebrating Christmas because of the love of God. God loves you so much that he came to earth that first Christmas as a human so you could get to know him and love him back.
God created us in his image, which includes the ability to enjoy a personal relationship with him. He took the initiative to send Jesus so we could experience his love. So that we could be restored to a right relationship with him. Of course, we know a little about God by simply observing his creation. For instance, by looking at nature we know that our Creator loves variety:

He created an incredibly diverse universe. Think of the limitless array of plants, animals, rock formations, snowflakes, and people. No two human beings, even twins, are exactly alike. God doesn’t make clones or copies. Every one of us is an original. After you were born, God broke the mold. By surveying nature, we also know that God is powerful and organized, and that he loves beauty. God must enjoy watching us enjoy what he’s created. Otherwise, why would he give us so many ways to enjoy it? He gave us taste buds, then filled the world with incredible flavours like chocolate and cinnamon and all the other spices. He gave us eyes to perceive colour and then filled the world with a rainbow of shades. He gave us sensitive ears and then filled the world with rhythms and music. Your capacity for enjoyment is evidence of God’s love for you. He could have made the world tasteless, colorless, and silent. The Bible says that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” He didn’t have to do it, but he did, because he loves us. But until Jesus came, our understanding of God’s love was limited. So God invaded planet earth to save us. God could have chosen many other ways to communicate with us, but since he designed us, he knew the best way would be face-to-face. The Bible tells us that God is love. It doesn’t say God has love, but “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love is the essence of God’s character. It is his very nature.

The reason that everything in the universe exists is because God wanted to love it. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:9). Think about this. Everything you see, and the trillions of things you can’t, were made by God for his enjoyment. He loves it all, even when we mess it up by our sin. Every star, every planet, every plant, every animal, every cell, and, most of all, every human being was created out of God’s compassion. You were created as an object of God’s love. He made you in order to love you! His love is the reason you’re alive and breathing and here tonight. Every time your heart beats and every time you take a breath, God is saying, “I love you.” You would not exist if God had not wanted you. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. Did you know that God was thinking of you even before he made the world? (Psalm 139:16). In fact, it is why he created it. He designed this planet’s environment with just the right characteristics so human beings could live on it. “God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made.” (James 1:18). We matter to God more than anything else he has made. Because God’s love for you is unconditional, he loves you on your bad days as much as on your good days. He loves you when you don’t feel his love as much as when you do.

He loves you regardless of your performance, your moods, your actions, or your thoughts. His love for you is unchanging. Everything else will change during your lifetime, but God’s love for you is constant, steady, and continuous. It’s the foundation for unshakable confidence. There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you’d fail — because God’s love for you is based on his character, not your conduct. It’s based on who he is, not what you’ve done. The Bible says, “Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love.” (Ephesians 3:19). Christ’s love was supremely expressed when he paid for every sin we commit by dying on a cross in our place. This is the Good News. When the Romans nailed Jesus to a cross, they stretched his arms as wide as they could. With his arms wide open, Jesus was physically demonstrating, “I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you!” The next time you see a picture or statue of Jesus on the cross, remember, he is saying, “I love you this much” This is the 1st reason to celebrate at Christmas – God loves us. Here’s the 2nd reason to celebrate Christmas:

2. God is with us

Sometimes we give babies names to honour their relatives. God gave Jesus several names to explain his purpose for coming to earth. Matthew’s gospel, quotes one of those names,

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means “God with us”. (Matt 1:23; Isa 7:14)

In Jesus Christ, God has made himself known fully and finally. He is now with us. God came to earth at Christmas in Jesus Christ to be with you. To be with you, not just for Christmas but forever. God’s presence in your life has nothing to do with your feelings. Your emotional state can be the result of memories, hormones, medicines, food, lack of sleep, tension or fears. The Bible says “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). Space and time are irrelevant to God. God is always everywhere at the same time. No wonder the angels told the shepherds “Do not be afraid”.

C.S. Lewis put it, “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with him.” That’s a fact whether you feel it or not. You may have been abandoned in life – by a spouse, by your parents, by your children, or by people you thought were your friends. We have all experienced the pain and heartache of rejection in some way or another. You may have experienced the sting of racial or ethnic prejudice, gender bigotry, or religious intolerance. But God will not abandon you if you trust in Him. He never will. In the Bible, God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). Whatever difficulty you are facing or where the heat is on in your life, God knows about it, cares about it, understands it and is with you. You are not alone. God loves us. God is with us.

3. God is for us

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10). He’s not only loving you, and He’s not only with you, but the Bible says God is for you. He’s on your side. He wants you to win. He wants you to succeed. He wants you to live. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Not just with us but for us. So many people are afraid of God. They feel that God is just waiting to catch them in something bad, so he can pounce on them and punish them. Maybe you get nervous when people start talking about God. You know why? It’s called guilt. Guilt separates us from God. You may think, “If I get close to God, He’s going to scold me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong. He’s going to tell me the bad stuff.”
But the Bible says Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to save it. The Bible says – “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” (John 3:17).

He didn’t come to scold you. He came to save you. That’s the good news. And if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). No wonder the angel said “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10). Good news of great joy that God loves you, God is with you. God is for you. These are the reasons Christmas is meant to be a celebration. On Christmas Eve we will consider the other two purposes, salvation and reconciliation. For now, remember, Jesus came to save you, not to scare you. That’s why the very first words of the angel were, “Don’t be afraid.” There are actually 365 “fear not’s” in the Bible. That’s one for every day of the year. God is saying, “Get the message” You don’t need to be afraid. Because, “I love you, I’m with you, and I’m for you.” That’s good news. And that’s what we are celebrating tonight. Lets pray.

Dear God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, so I could get to know you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being with me all my life even when I didn’t know it. I realize I need a saviour to set me free from sin, from myself, and from all the habits, hurts, and hang-ups that mess up my life. I ask you to forgive me for my sins. I want to repent and live the way you created me to live. Be the Lord of my life, and save me by your grace. Save me from my sins, and save me for your purpose. I want to learn to love you, trust you, and become what you made me to be. Thank you for creating me and choosing me to be part of your family. Right now, by faith, I accept the Christmas gift of your Son. Fill me with your Holy Spirit to give me your peace and assurance so I can be a peacemaker, and help me share this message of peace with others. In your name I pray, Amen.

This sermon and prayer is adapted with sincere thanks from Rick Warren’s The Purpose of Christmas (Howard Books, 2008)

On Being a Generous Investor: Luke 12:13-21 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

I think we would all agree that the £850 billion the government has pledged to bale out UK Banks is a lot of money. It’s the equivalent of £40,000 for every household.  A great deal of money. We might disagree, though on whether some of those billions should be paid out in bonuses this Christmas. On Thursday the RBS Board threatened to resign en masse if the government blocked its pledge to pay bonuses. Whether you agree or not might depend on whether you are a potential beneficiary.  Today is our Pledge Sunday.

Today we are asking you to make a pledge. To indicate in writing, up front, what the Lord has laid upon your heart to give back to him in 2010. Today we are asking you to be a wise and generous investor. We are asking you to indicate your pledge to the Lord’s work in and through Christ Church in 2010. As a sign of your thankfulness. As a sign of your trust.  As a sign of your obedience. None of us know what lies ahead. So your pledge is not binding. Your income may go up in 2010. It may very well go down. All God expects is that we tithe in proportion to our income. So please make your pledge today.
Knowing what income we may expect helps our Church Council to budget prudently. You may wish to base your pledge on your income this year. You may wish to base it on your anticipated income next year. It is your choice. But please pledge.

Pledge Joyfully. Pledge willingly, secretly, sacrificially and in proportion to your income. Becoming a generous investor is much more than simply putting money in the collection. Its even more than filling in a bankers standing order (although we do like you to give in this way).
As you consider your pledge, let us take a few moments to consider the meaning and application of this parable of Jesus.

We shall see that by our attitude to money, how we invest our assets, we are shaping our legacy, indeed, our eternal destiny. Through this simple story, Jesus shows that we have a choice. We are either becoming a success or a failure, and the way we handle money will make it obvious which.

Jesus is teaching the crowds when he is interrupted by a man who asks Jesus to solve a family dispute. ‘Teacher, tell my wretched brother to divide the inheritance with me.’”  By the way it doesn’t say the word ‘wretched’, I put that in, I think that’s what he means.  You know what they say, don’t you, where there’s a will there’s a family.  That’s what’s going on here, isn’t it? Two brothers falling out for good over money.

Like many today, their relationship is coming to an end over who’s going to get Granny’s sideboard and clock.  Rabbis were expected to help settle such legal matters, but Jesus refuses to get involved. Why? Because He is being asked to side with one brother against another. He knew that neither recognised their real problem. The real problem for both was covetousness. (The “you” in Luke 12:14 is plural.) As long as both were greedy, no settlement would be satisfactory to either.  Their greatest need was a change of heart. Like many today, they wanted Jesus to serve them but not to save them.  Jesus tells this story because he wants to save them and us. He tells this story to help us distinguish success from failure. To discern the difference between wisdom and foolishness.

By the world’s standards this individual was very successful. Very wealthy. He had it made. He could retire early and quit the rat race. And yet God says ‘you are a complete and utter failure’. Quite shocking really isn’t it? Why? Because we are about to see Jesus defines failure. Failure is being successful in things that really don’t matter. People who are satisfied only with the things that money can buy are in mortal danger of losing the things that money cannot buy.

1. The Fool’s Dilemma
“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ (Luke 12:16-17)

Rico Tice speculates, “So this guy knows exactly how to work the EU subsidies.  And the stables have been converted into garages and there are four family cars.  And in city terms I guess you’d see him commuting in from Sunningdale every morning, …. his wife shops at Harrod’s and Harvey Nicks.
He’d have a house next to Ernie Ells on the Wentworth Estate, wouldn’t he?  He’d be playing golf there, loves to play the West course every Saturday morning.  And the kids, well the boys would be at Harrow or Eton, the girl would be at Downe House.  He drives an Aston Martin.  That’s his life, and if you saw him commuting in you’d nudge your friends as you walk past First Class.  You’d say, ‘look at him, he’s made a fortune you know.  Take his advice.  He’s no fool.  Amazing guy.’  … a partner at Goldman Sachs, and he is the guy that actually saved Goldman Sachs billions of pounds.  You know they ended up with 8 billion on the sub-prime mortgages, but….  He’s the one who got them out.  He’s a very bright guy… a bright guy, he knows how to do it, take his advice, he’s no fool.”

How would you respond to the wealthy man’s dilemma? Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth!  You may be thinking – I wish I had that kind of problem.  If you inherited a fortune this week, you would no doubt ask the same question as he did, “What shall I do?” It was a good question to ask. What made him a fool was the way he answered it.  The Fool’s Dilemma.

2. The Fool’s Decision
‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ (Luke 12:18-19)

Here’s Rico again, “So you see he gets a better harvest than expected but there’s no panic, there’s no waste, he’s not going to flood the market.  He gets out his calculator, he does his sums, he does his work, he sees it’s definitely worth paying for a massive grain storage mountain.  Bigger profit than normal this year, there’s no point in letting Gordon Brown get his hands on it, so he calls in his accountant and he works out how to invest it. … it’s amazing because he’s eventually able to arrive at, being able to say to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”  So he retires early at 47.  It’s just absolutely fantastic, he’s done it.  Left school aged 18 and said, ‘I want to retire by my mid-forties,’ and he’s done it.  He’s retired early.

And doubtlessly the Sunday Times colour supplement would run an article on him entitled, “The Man Who Knew When To Stop.”  And those people slogging it out, commuting into the city, they’d read it and they’d say, ‘Very wise, very wise.’  And … he’s now trying to get his handicap down to single figures, he wants to get down to single figures on the West course at Wentworth, now that’s a battle.  So he’s going to try and shoot under eighty every time as he goes out.  And … down in Sandwich he’s built the most fantastic holiday home, wonderful, overlooking the bay.”

‘Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’ Isn’t that the motivation behind many a pension plan or saving scheme?  Isn’t that the assumption behind the glossy holiday supplements that intentionally fall out of your Sunday paper so you have to pick them up? People say that money does not satisfy, but it does satisfy if you want a particular lifestyle. The Fool’s Dilemma, the Fool’s Decision.

3. The Fool’s Destiny
Rico once more, “The retirement party has come and gone, it’s a lovely Sunday afternoon in the summer at Sandwich.  The sun’s sort of bouncing off the water, it’s a beautiful day.  His wife is with the staff clearing up in the kitchen.  He’s got a long cool glass of orange … in his hand.  He’s standing on the veranda looking out over the bay.  The congratulations from his friends are ringing in his ears, they’re saying, ‘we saw the article; I don’t know how you did it.  We’re going to have to go on working for years, you’ve made it.’  And he looks down and there are holiday brochures on the little side table behind him.  There are safaris, there’s skiing, he doesn’t know, … Aspen, Verbier, Val d’Isere, but he’s going to buy a chalet because he doesn’t want to be mucking around with time shares, not with global warming.  You’ve got to go when the snow’s good.  So he says to himself as he looks down and he sees the safaris and the skiing, and he looks out and he sees his boat, and he looks behind him and he sees the wonderful house he’s built, and he looks across, he can see Sandwich and the golf course, and he says to himself, “You’ve done it!  You’ve made it!  You’ve retired early.  You’ve plenty laid up for years and years and years.  Take life easy: eat, drink and….” and suddenly, there is a searing pain in his chest and he is dead before they get him into intensive care.

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:20-21)

‘This is failure’ says Jesus. To be successful in the things in life that really don’t matter. I have yet to meet anyone who sets out to be a failure. I think we would all really like to succeed.

But Jesus says he was a failure. He was a failure because he was not rich toward God. Rico points out, “we don’t know much about this guy, we don’t know if he was a good husband or a philanderer, we don’t know if he was a good father or he beat his children.  All we know is that at the end of the passage…he was not rich towards God. it’s very striking how self-centred he is, …I, me or my come eleven times.  “He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do?  I have no place to store my crops.’  Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I’ll say to myself.’”  He thought he was self-sufficient actually he was thoroughly self-centred.”

The greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: eternity without God. The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was of no good to him. God is not impressed with our money. We cannot buy our way into heaven. Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed. Jesus exposes the utter folly of investing in the wrong things, in things that ultimately don’t matter. What then is the right approach to wealth and possessions?

How to Become a Wise Investor

Jesus said, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21) Here is the answer. God does want us to be rich. “Rich toward God.” Notice Jesus is not criticizing saving. He is not condemning storing up. Just the reverse. Saving is warmly commended in Scripture.

“The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” (Proverbs 21:20)

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.” (Proverbs 30:24-25)

“One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)

So Jesus is not criticizing saving or storing up for the future. The contrast Jesus makes here is between storing up for ‘myself’ and storing up for ‘God’. The question then is this:

In what am I investing? Whose money is it?

Who am I working for? Jesus does not want us to be a failure. That is why he explains that to be “rich toward God” means:

Rich in Thankfulness

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes… consider the ravens… yet God feeds them” (Luke 12:22-24)

If we would have a proper attitude to possessions then we must first acknowledge, like the birds, that all things come from God. We will be grateful, thankful stewards of God’s good creation. Pledging is a way of saying “thank you”. Rich in thankfulness.

Rich in Simplicity

“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith..”  (Luke 12:27-28)

The fool’s motive was “more is better”. Jesus says “Less is more. Learn to live simply so that others can simply live”.
Even designer clothes cannot match the beauty of God’s creation and that includes you. Rich in thankfulness, rich in simplicity.

Rich in Generosity

“But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well… Sell your possessions and give to the poor.

Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:31-34)

Wealth can be enjoyed and employed at the same time if we are rich – if we are generous toward God.

A month ago we launched our 2020 Vision and Five Year Plan. We believe these reflect God’s priorities for us as a church.

That is why we are now asking you to pledge.

To pledge your financial contribution so that we may accomplish our mission. Is this not a legacy worth investing in? Please make your pledge today. It will help you shape your legacy and help us as a church fulfill our destiny.  Lets pray.

You can listen  here

On Monday I gave a presentation on the Cross of Christ in Isaiah 53 to the Royal Holloway University Christian Union as part of their evangelistic training course. Here is the text:

Isaiah 53: Cross Shaped Evangelism
Written around 700 years before Christ, the Book of Isaiah is quoted more times in the New Testament than any other book of the Hebrew Scriptures. 754 of its 1292 verses are predictive = 59% prophecy. And you know what? Isaiah chapter 53 is quoted more times in the NT than any other chapter in the OT. It contains 11 direct prophecies concerning Jesus and it is cited or alluded to in at least 50 NT passages. Why? Lets find out. With the eyes of faith we see Isaiah 53 so explicitly refers to the Lord Jesus it doesn’t need much by way of explanation. Indeed it became so obvious that Isaiah was referring to Jesus after he was crucified and rose again from the dead, that, as the Church separated from the Synagogue, Isaiah 53 was no longer read as part of the Jewish lectionary. There are five stanzas to this passage, each of three verses, and it begins in chapter 52:13. (Remember the chapter divisions and verse numbering was added in Medieval times and are not there in the original).

1. The Predicted Saviour: The Servant’s Role (52:13-15)
2. The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life (53:1-3)
3. The Representative Saviour: The Servant’s Suffering (53:4-6)
4. The Crucified Saviour: The Servant’s Death (53:7-9)
5. The Glorious Saviour: The Servant’s Resurrection (53:10-12)

1. The Predicted Saviour: The Servant’s Role
“See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.” (Isaiah 52:13-15)

This 1st Stanza contains the words of God as He makes a divine proclamation. He says, “See my servant” The AV uses the word “Behold” The word means ‘To fix the eyes upon’ or ‘to observe with care.’ John said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Notice Jesus would be God’s servant. God’s servant, and our Saviour. So God speaks “See, My Servant”

I invite you to do just that this morning. I invite you to behold Jesus. I invite you to fix your eyes upon Him. I invite you to see Him in ways that you have never seen Him before. God tells us, through Isaiah, that His Servant will be raised and lifted up. He will be highly exalted, even though his suffering was truly appalling. This was fulfilled when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, then in his resurrection and ascension. God then tells us that His Servant will “sprinkle many nations”. At first this phrase may seem strange.
The word used here means to sprinkle as in to declare clean from disease. Leviticus 14 describes the process whereby one who had been healed from leprosy or some other disease that was considered contagious could be declared clean by the priests.
Through his death Jesus would provide for our cleansing from a disease far worse than leprosy that disease is sin.
The Predicted Saviour: The Servants Role.

2. The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life
“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3)

These verses speak of the ministry of Jesus and the growing incredulity found in the gospels when it became plain that Jesus was not going to fulfil the role of the warrior king and defeat Israel’s enemies. On Good Friday, the Jewish authorities rejected their Saviour. Even the disciples failed to see in Jesus their Saviour. The reference to the ‘arm of the Lord’ refers to His power to save His people. The Cross is where God’s power resides. The Cross the power of God for salvation. Foolishness to the world, but the wisdom and power of God. The Predicted Saviour: The Servants Role. The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life.

3. The Representative Saviour: The Servant’s Suffering
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)

This is the heart of Isaiah 53 and takes us to the core of why Jesus came. Notice that it was not his sin but ours that he took the cross.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

Paul captures the essence of this in his second letter to the Corinthians. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Verse 6 probably derives its imagery from the ritual which took place on the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus 16:21-22 we see how the high priest acts as God’s agent and symbolically transfers the sins of the people to a goat, known as the ‘scapegoat’ by laying his hands on its head. Then the scapegoat was driven out into the desert to die; even as Christ, the Lamb of God, was crucified outside the city.

The Predicted Saviour: The Servants Role.
The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life.
The Representative Saviour: The Servant’s Suffering.

4. The Crucified Saviour: The Servant’s Death
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7-9)

Here we see a description of the Suffering Servant’s death – so completely fulfilled in Jesus. His trial, illegally held at night, was a mockery of justice – it was oppressive. His assigned grave was to have been with the two thieves with whom he was crucified. But a rich Pharisee and secret follower petitioned Pilate for the body to bury him in his own tomb. An exact fulfilment of Isaiah’s prediction 700 years after it was made.
As the split between Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity widened, Jewish rabbi’s increasingly taught that Israel was the ‘Servant’ in Isaiah 53. But sinful Israel could never atone for others. “for the transgression of my people he was stricken”. It is the singular servant – “he” who dies for the transgression of the people, so the people would not have to. The apostle John understood, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2).

The Predicted Saviour: The Servants Role.
The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life.
The Representative Saviour: The Servant’s Suffering.
The Crucified Saviour: The Servant’s Death

5. The Glorious Saviour: The Servant’s Resurrection
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:10-12)

These verses point most emphatically to the resurrection. Having “poured out his life unto death” (53:12), he would nevertheless, verse 11, “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.” (53:11). He would indeed “prolong his days” (53:10). Christ’s work is presented as a victory over spiritual foes, resulting in a distribution of spoils to those made strong in him.
This is precisely the imagery Paul uses in Ephesians 4 & 6 (see Ephesians 4:8; 6:10-17); Christ the victor grants salvation and spiritual gifts to his people. And Matthew 19:28-30 declares that Jesus the great King, when he returns to reign “at the renewal of all things,” will even grant to his faithful followers a right to share in that reign.” Jesus shall indeed come again, crowned with glory and honour, power and majesty! Now do you see how the good news of Jesus was indeed revealed centuries before he came? Revealed by a loving God who wanted people to recognise His son when he came. Before he came to seek and save the lost.

The Predicted Saviour: The Servants Role.
The Rejected Saviour: The Servant’s Life.
The Representative Saviour: The Servant’s Suffering.
The Crucified Saviour: The Servant’s Death.
The Glorious Saviour: The Servant’s Resurrection.

The prophecy of Isaiah 53, so graphically fulfilled in the last 12 hours of Jesus earthly life can be summed up in one simple word – ‘love’. And one verse. One verse epitomises the NT response to the predictions of Isaiah 53. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Lets pray.

On Being a Good Neighbour: Craig Dyer from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Craig Dyer preaches on the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) at the Remembrance Sunday service at Christ Church, Virginia Water, on the 8th November 2009. Craig is the Training Director for Christianity Explored – see christianityexplored.org

On Being a Good Neighbour from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Do you ever worry about your neighbours? About that they may think of you? What impression you give them as a neighbour?

When they meet you or see you from a distance, what impression do they get? Is it accurate or a distortion? Are your neighbours threatened or confused by the impressions you give? Do they want to get to know you or do they lock the door and hide? Scientists tell us that the further away your neighbours live, the more likely they are to hold outdated, inaccurate and stereotypical views of you. Did you know, for example, that once broadcast, TV signals begin an endless journey outward into the cosmos at the speed of light? That means our earliest TV broadcasts are probably travelling through star systems more than 400 trillion miles from earth. Do you realise that our neighbours living 60 light years away are watching the first episodes of the Lone Ranger in black and white. 50 light years away they are now watching Rawhide and Bonanza. 40 light years away they have moved on to the original Star Trek series. 30 light years away they are able to watch the Dukes of Hazzard and Knots Landing. Just 20 light years away its Seinfeld and the Sopranos. Those only 10 light years away are being blessed by the Apprentice and countless episodes of Lost. Does it worry you what our neighbours in space may think about us? Does it matter what impression we give? If you want to explore this further I recommend the new film District 9.

If your neighbours knew about your TV preferences, the books you read, your interests, your convictions, values and priorities, what would they think of you? What about the people next door? Over the road? Down the street? The people you meet every day on the train? The people you work with? It may have been questions like this that prompted a certain lawyer to ask Jesus the question, “who is my neighbour?” meaning, “who do I bear some responsibility for and who can I ignore?” We answer this question all the time whether we consciously think about it or not.
We answer this question by the way we treat other people.

In reply to the lawyers question, Jesus told a story, a parable.

A parable is simply a story with a kick in the tail, a story in which we find ourselves an active if unwitting participant rather than an objective observer or innocent passerby.

This parable of Jesus is as topical and controversial today as it was to those who first heard him. Jesus’ audience would have been very familiar with tales of hapless victims, robbed or murdered on that very road. Even today the road from Jerusalem down to Jericho isn’t the kind of road to take the family on a Sunday afternoon picnic. So Jesus had their attention. Christ talked about violence and danger – and we certainly have plenty of that today. He talked about crime, racial discrimination, fear and hatred. In this parable we also see neglect and concern, we see love and mercy. We know very well what the parable says, but what does it mean? The key to understanding the parable is in the wounded traveller’s condition. It is not a curious incidental. Jesus says he was unconscious and naked. These details are skillfully woven into the story to create the tension that is at the heart of the drama. The Middle Eastern world was made up of various ethnic-religious communities. You could identify the stranger ahead of you in two ways. By their accent and their clothing. In the first century the various ethnic communities within Palestine used an amazing array of dialects and languages. In addition to Hebrew, one could find settled communities using Aramaic, Greek, Samaritan, Phoenician, Arabic, Nabatean, and Latin. Not without reason was the north known as the Galilee of the Gentiles. No one travelling a major highway in Palestine could be sure that the stranger he might meet would be a fellow Jew.

But a short greeting would reveal his language or dialect if their clothing had not already given their nationality away. But what of the man in this story? Jesus tells us he is stripped of his outer clothes and is unconscious. He is thereby reduced to a mere human being. It was such a person that the robbers left beside the road. So who will turn aside to offer aid? Let’s spend a few moments considering the characters involved in this story and their attitudes toward the man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho.

1. To The Thieves: He was a Victim to Exploit

The thieves did not see a fellow human being made in the image of God. They saw someone they could exploit. It did not matter what happened to him, as long as they got what they wanted. Their philosophy was “What’s yours is mine-I’ll take it”.

God gave us things to use and people to love. We live in a culture that has got it round the other way. Jesus Christ never exploited a person. He always gives back more than he asks for. He always leaves a person in better shape than when He found them. If he wounds, he also heals. We must beware of looking at people and thinking “what can he do for me?” We may not mug people to steal their money, but we can so easily hurt people with our words and actions. To the thieves this man was a victim to exploit.

2. To The Priest and Levite: He was a Nuisance to Avoid

Jericho was a priestly city, a place where many of the priestly families lived. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It has a warm mild climate all year. Before 1967, many of the oil rich sheiks from the Gulf States would spend their winters in Jericho. By comparison, Jerusalem is cold and exposed in winter. So Jericho was the place to live, and priests and levites would regularly frequent this road on their way to and from the Temple. Of all people one would have expected them to help this poor man. The priest was most probably riding. Priests were drawn from the upper class of society. They constituted the privileged elite of Jewish society. In the Middle East no one with any status in the community takes a seventeen mile hike through the desert. The poor walk. Everyone else rode. So what excuses might the priest have offered had he been caught on a security camera travelling by on the other side?

“I’ve got to remain pure in order to serve God” When confronted by a stripped and unconscious person the priest faced a dilemma.

How could he help someone who might be a sinner? His religious laws forbade him go within four metres of a dead person in case he became defiled. Then he wouldn’t be able to perform his duties. His peers would have applauded him for not stopping so that he could perform the higher work for God. Perhaps he thought, “It’s not my problem”. Maybe it was. Why didn’t the religious leaders do something about the dangerous road?

Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper? The answer is “Yes, regardless of your sister or brother’s race or colour.” Perhaps he was afraid of an ambush. May be it was, maybe it wasn’t. What mattered was the person in need. If we allow fear to determine our actions we will be paralyzed from serving God. Maybe he thought “Let somebody else do it” The priest could have said, “the Levite coming up behind me, he can stop, I don’t need to.” But then the Levite could then have thought, “The priest didn’t do anything, so why should I?” You and I can always find somebody to point to as an excuse for our own neglect. Failure to act when we should is just as sinful as to act when we shouldn’t. If we go through life wanting our own way, then other people will always be a nuisance because they will get in our way. But if we go through life with our eyes open seeking opportunities to share the love of Christ, then every nuisance, every encounter becomes a divine appointment, an opportunity to serve God.

To the robbers this man was a victim to exploit. To the priest and Levite he was a nuisance to avoid.

3. To The Lawyer: He was a Problem to Discuss

Jesus told the story in reply to a lawyer’s question. The lawyer was an expert in religious law. Israel lived under religious law in a similar way as Sharia law is imposed in some countries with a Muslim majority. He was then a professional theologian.
The lawyer wanted to test Jesus on a point of law. To win an argument. Jesus turns the conversation round to teach a fundamental truth about concrete action. The lawyer was safe with theories, “who is my neighbour?” He was threatened with the reply “What would you have done in this story? What kind of neighbour are you?” To the robbers this man was a victim to exploit. To the priest and Levite he was a nuisance to avoid.

To the Lawyer: He was a problem to discuss.

4. To The Inn Keeper: He was a Customer to Serve

I do not criticise the inn keeper. He had his inn to manage, and that kept him busy. But I want to use the inn keeper to illustrate the fact that many Christians serve, or rather serve particular people because it is their job and they get paid to do it.

Maybe the inn keeper would have helped the man without the Samaritan’s two silver coins, and the assurance of more if it was needed. We don’t know. That was not the main point of Jesus story, but it is worth noting that the inn keeper took the money.

So let’s follow through on the implications. How far are we willing to serve as long as it is convenient and won’t cost us anything?

Fine as long as it doesn’t interfere with my agenda? Fine as long as I can reimburse for that expenditure? Motive has a great deal to do with ministry. The Pharisees prayed, gave tithes and fasted – all acceptable religious practices, but the motive of some, says Jesus, was to gain the praise of people, not to glorify God. If I only serve because I am paid to do it then I am more like the inn keeper than the Samaritan, for I am treating you as a client rather than a human being. Of the five attitudes demonstrated in this passage, only one was acceptable, and that belonged to a foreigner. When Jesus uttered the phrase, “But a certain Samaritan….” I’m convinced His Jewish audience were shocked.

The Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another. Every morning, a pious Jew thanked God in his prayers that the Lord had not made him a woman, a Gentile or a Samaritan. A Gentile might conceivably become a Jewish proselyte but not a Samaritan. They were lost eternally. The last person you would expect to help a Jew would be a Samaritan. I’m sure his audience expected Jesus to say “when the Samaritan came along he took one look at the man and … finished him off.”

The concept of “ethnic cleansing” may be a recent addition to the vocabulary but the actions it describes have been going on for thousands of years. There was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus might just as well have been describing the action of a Serb toward a Croat in Bosnia, or a Greek toward a Turk on Cyprus, or a Palestinian toward an Israeli settler on the West Bank.

Contrary to their expectation, Jesus elevates a despised Samaritan, as the one who did not permit racial or religious barriers to hinder him from helping this unknown victim.

5. To The Samaritan: He was a Neighbour to Love

The Samaritan did not blame the injured person for the collective attitudes of either race, and use that as an excuse for doing nothing. He dared to act as a concerned individual, in three specific ways.

1. He Showed Compassion 10:33

“But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.” (Luke 10:33)

This word means much more than passing pity. The original has with it the connotation of being deeply moved inside. It is the word used to describe the way the Lord feels about lost sinners. Compassion describes the way God feels about us. When we show compassion we are merely demonstrating our family likeness. He showed compassion.

2. He Took the Initiative 10:34

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (Luke 10:34)

The Samaritan could have excused himself. He was a foreigner in a hostile country. He was alone and vulnerable, but Agape, God’s love does not look for excuses, it looks beyond obstacles. It does not ask why, but why not?

The Samaritan cleansed the victims wounds with wine and soothed them with oil. He bound up the wounds so they would begin to heal. He took the man to the inn to recover and promised to return to pay the bill. The lawyer was willing to talk, the Samaritan took the initiative. He demonstrated compassion. He took the initiative and, thirdly

3. He Bore the Cost 10:35

“The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’” (Luke 10:35). He interrupted his schedule to help this man. It may have made him late for a business appointment, it may have delayed him from seeing his family. But he paid the cost. What did he have to gain from this personally? Nothing – except the joy and strength that come when you do God’s will.

When you serve in love without expecting recognition or reward. What did the Samaritan show? Compassion, initiative, sacrifice.

Jesus said, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Luke 10:36)

When Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three was a neighbour to the victim, the lawyer gave the correct answer but he would not even bring himself to use the word “Samaritan”. He was still resisting Jesus attempt to reach his heart. I wonder whether we have got the message? On this Remembrance Sunday, with British troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, Kenya, Sierre Leone, and the Falklands;

with rising tensions within the nationalist community in Northern Ireland; with religious intolerance and political extremism growing; and the ever present threat of terrorism, perhaps we would do well as the question – who is my neighbour? For Jesus teaches that we cannot separate our relationship with God from our responsibility toward those he brings across our path. The lawyer wanted Jesus to define the limits of his responsibility of neighbourliness. He wanted Jesus to identify those he had to be a neighbour to and those he could ignore. Jesus turned the question round. The question is not ‘to whom need I be a neighbour?’ But rather ‘what kind of neighbour am I?’ – to anyone I meet? I invite you to join a revolution this week. Break the spiral of fear and hate in our community with acts of compassion and mercy – especially toward those who are different, those who are the outsiders, those who are the strangers. Who ever the Lord brings across your path today. Your assignment from Jesus is really very simple: “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37). Lets pray.

Praying for God’s Power: Ephesians 3.14-21 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Probably the most revealing way of discovering our chief anxieties or ambitions is to listen to our prayers. We all pray about things that concern us. We don’t usually pray for issues that do not concern us. Prayer expresses desire. We see this axiom illustrated in Paul’s second prayer in Ephesians.

He pours out his soul to God. He prays that God’s wonderful plan which he has been elaborating may be even more completely fulfilled in his readers’ experience. Bishop Handley Moule asks: ‘Who has not read and re-read the closing verses of the third chapter of the Ephesians with the feeling of one permitted to look through parted curtains into the Holiest Place of the Christian life?’

1. The Introduction to his Prayer

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” (Ephesians 3:14-16)

The apostle begins For this reason …, resuming his train of thought where he had left it in verse 1. What ‘reason’ is in his mind? What is it that moves him to pray? Surely it is the reconciling work of Christ? This being so, an important principle of prayer emerges. The basis of Paul’s prayer was his knowledge of God’s purpose. It was because of what God had done in Christ and revealed to Paul that he had the necessary warrant to pray. For the indispensable prelude to all petition is the revelation of God’s will. We have no authority to pray for anything which God has not willed. That is why Bible reading and prayer should always go together. For it is in Scripture that God has disclosed his will, and it is in prayer that we ask him to do it.4

Paul goes on: I kneel. The normal posture for prayer among the Jews was standing. Kneeling indicated an exceptional degree of earnestness, as when Jesus fell on his face to the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Stephen faced the ordeal of martyrdom.5 God doesn’t tell us how to pray. You can pray kneeling, standing, sitting, walking and even lying in bed, although William Hendriksen warns ‘the slouching position of the body while one is… praying is an abomination to the Lord’.6

I kneel before the Father. The apostle has already explained that we worship ‘the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Here he goes on to affirm that from this Father, before whom he kneels in reverent humility, every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Paul is saying not only that the whole Christian family is named from the Father, but that the very notion of fatherhood is derived from the Fatherhood of God.

To this Father Paul prays that he will give gifts according to ‘his glorious riches’. Both ‘riches’ and ‘glory’ are characteristic words of this letter. Paul has no doubt either that God has inexhaustible resources at his disposal or that out of them he will be able to answer his prayer. The introduction to his prayer

2. The Substance of his Prayer

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. “ (Ephesians 3:16-17)

The apostle’s petition is like a staircase by which he climbs higher and higher in his aspiration for his readers. His prayer-staircase has four steps, whose key words are ‘strength’, ‘love’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘fullness’. More precisely, he prays first that they may be strengthened by the indwelling of Christ through his Spirit; secondly that they may be rooted and established in love; thirdly that they may grasp Christ’s love in all its dimensions; and fourthly that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Lets consider these requests one at a time.

2.1 Strengthen you with Power

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:16–17a).

These two petitions clearly belong together. Both refer to the Christian’s innermost being, his ‘inner being’ on the one hand and his ‘heart’ on the other. Then, although one specifies the strength of the Spirit and the other the indwelling of Christ, both surely refer to the same experience. To have Christ dwelling in us is the same as having the Spirit dwelling us. It is precisely by the Spirit that Christ dwells in our hearts,2 and it he gives us strength when he dwells there.

But doesn’t ‘Christ dwell by his Spirit in every believer? So how can Paul ask that Christ may dwell in their hearts? Did they not already have Christ? Every Christian is indeed indwelt by Christ and is the temple of the Holy Spirit.4 Paul is praying here for a deepening of that relationship. What Paul asks for his readers is that they may be ‘fortified, braced, invigorated’,6 that they may ‘know the strength of the Spirit’s inner reinforcement’ (jbp), and may lay hold ever more firmly ‘by faith’ of this divine strength, this divine indwelling.

This is clear from the word he chooses for the ‘dwelling’ of Christ in the heart. Paul could have said paroikō which means to ‘inhabit (a place) as a stranger’ the very word Paul has already used in 2:19 for an alien who is living away from his home. No, in contrast, here Paul prefers Katoikeō, which means to settle down somewhere. Bishop Handley Moule draws out the implications: ‘The word… denote[s] residence as against lodging, the abode of a master within his own home as against the turning aside for a night of the wayfarer who will be gone tomorrow.’ Paul prays to the Father that Christ by his Spirit will settle down in their hearts, and from his throne there both control and strengthen them. Strengthen you with power.

2.2 Root and Establish You in Love

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17). Why does Paul pray to God the Father that Christ would control and strengthen believers? So that they will display their Father’s likeness in sacrificial love. This new humanity is God’s family, brothers and sisters, who will love their Father and love each other. Or should do. They need the power of the Spirit’s might and of Christ’s indwelling to enable them to love each other, especially across the deep racial and cultural divide which previously had separated them.

To express how fundamental Paul longs for their love to be, he joins two metaphors (one botanical, the other architectural), both of which emphasize depth as opposed to superficiality. These Christians are to be rooted and established, or to have ‘deep roots and firm foundations’ (neb). Thus Paul likens them first to a well-rooted tree, and then to a well-built house. In both cases the unseen cause of their stability will be the same: love. Love is to be the soil in which their life is to be rooted; love is to be the foundation on which their life is built. Strengthen you with power. Root and Establish you in love.

2.3 To Grasp the Love of Christ

“may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:17-18)

The apostle now passes from our love (in which we are to be rooted and grounded) to Christ’s love (which he prays we may know). Indeed, he acknowledges that we need strength or power for both, strength to love and power to comprehend Christ’s love. Certainly the two cannot be separated, and it is partly by loving that we learn the meaning of his love. Paul prays that we may have power to comprehend the love of Christ in its full dimensions—its breadth and length and height and depth.

The love of Christ is ‘broad’ enough to encompass all mankind, ‘long’ enough to last for eternity, ‘deep’ enough to reach the most degraded sinner, and ‘high’ enough to exalt him to heaven. Or, as Leslie Mitton expresses it, finding a parallel to Romans 8:37–39: ‘Whether you go forward or backward, up to the heights or down to the depths, nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.’1

Some have seen these dimensions illustrated on the cross. For its upright pole reached down into the earth and pointed up to heaven, while its crossbar carried the arms of Jesus, stretched out as if to invite and welcome the whole world. The apostle prays that we have power to comprehend these dimensions of Christ’s love, with all God’s people. Yet even then, although we may accept its dimensions with our minds, we cannot ‘know’ it in our experience. It is too broad, long, deep and high even for all the saints together to grasp. This is because It surpasses knowledge. The Christian experience is more than the understanding of biblical doctrine. It floods our emotions and captivates our hearts as well as blowing our minds. Christ’s love is as unknowable as his riches are unsearchable (verse 8). Doubtless we shall spend eternity exploring his inexhaustible riches of grace and love.

Strengthen you with power. Root and Establish you in love. To Grasp the Love of Christ.

2.4 That You may be Filled to the Measure

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.“ (Ephesians 3:19) ‘Fullness’ is a characteristic word of Ephesians. As individuals we are to go on being filled with the Spirit,6 and the church, although already the fullness of Christ,7 is still to ‘grow up into him’ till it reaches his fullness.8

‘Growth into fullness’ is therefore the theme of Paul’s fourth and last petition for the Ephesians. He prays that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. God’s perfection becomes the standard or level up to which we pray to be filled. The aspiration is the same in principle as that implied by the commands to be holy as God is holy, and to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.9

Such a prayer must surely look on, beyond this life to our final state of perfection in heaven when together we enter the completeness of God’s purpose for us, and filled up to that fullness of God which human beings are capable of receiving without ceasing to be human. Another way of expressing the prospect is that we shall become like Christ, which is God’s purpose and promise,1 for Christ is himself the fullness of God.

In saying that Paul’s last petition points to heavenly perfection, we have no liberty to try to evade its contemporary challenge. For God expects us to be growing daily towards that final fullness, as we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s image from one degree of glory to another.3

As we now look back down the staircase which we have been climbing with Paul, we cannot fail to be struck by his audacity. He prays that his readers may be given the strength of the Spirit and the ruling presence of Christ, the rooting of their lives in love, the knowledge of Christ’s love in all its dimensions, and the fullness of God himself. These are bold petitions. Climbers of this staircase become short of breath, even a little giddy. But Paul does not leave us in suspense.

3. The Conclusion of his Prayer

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

The apostle’s four petitions are sandwiched between two references to God. In verses 14–16 he is the Father of the whole family and possesses infinite riches in glory; in verses 20 and 21 he is the one who works powerfully within us. Such a God can indeed answer prayer.

God’s ability to answer prayer is forcefully stated by the apostle in a composite expression of seven stages. (1) He is able to, for he is neither idle, nor inactive. (2) He is able to do what we ask, for he hears and answers prayer. (3) He is able to do what we ask or imagine, for he reads our thoughts, and sometimes we imagine things for which we dare not and therefore do not ask. (4) He is able to do all that we ask or imagine, for he knows it all and can perform it all. (5) He is able to do more … than (hyper, ‘beyond’) all that we ask or imagine, for his expectations are higher than ours. (6) He is able to do much more, or more abundantly (perissōs), than all that we ask or imagine, for he does not give his grace by calculated measure. (7) He is able to do very much more, far more abundantly, than all that we ask or think, for he is a God of super-abundance. This adverb hyperekperissou is one of Paul’s coined ‘super-superlatives’.4 ‘Immeasurably more’ (niv) or better still, ‘infinitely more’ (AG, jbp).

There are quite simply no limits to what God can do. The infinite ability of God to work beyond our prayers, thoughts and dreams is by the power at work within us. That is, within us individually (Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith) and within us as a people (who are the dwelling place of God by his Spirit). It is the power of the resurrection, the power which raised Christ from the dead, enthroned him in the heavenlies, and then raised and enthroned us up there with him. That is the power which is at work within the Christian and the church.

Paul’s prayer relates to the fulfilment of his vision for God’s new society of love. He asks that its members may be strengthened to love and to know the love of Christ, though this surpasses knowledge. But then he turns from the love of God past knowing to the power of God past imagining, from limitless love to limitless power. For he is convinced, as we must be, that only divine power can generate divine love in the divine society.

To add anything more would be inappropriate, except the doxology. To him be glory, Paul exclaims, to this God of resurrection power who alone can make the dream come true. The power comes from him; the glory must go to him. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus together, in the body and in the Head, in the bride and in the Bridegroom, in the community of peace and in the Peacemaker, throughout all generations (in history), for ever and ever (in eternity), and ever and ever and ever and ever, Amen.

Listen here

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Stott, John R. W.: God’s New Society : The Message of Ephesians. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 1979, 1980, S. 131 (adapted, abridged, edited and paraphrased with heartfelt, sincere and grateful thanks)