Call & Cost: The Suffering Servant etc.

My wife and I are co-leaders of a small group, one of several in our congregation.  We generally meet weekly, from perhaps September in fall to May or June in spring, for fellowship, bible study and prayer. Of course, with Covid-19, that is all 'out the window.' In fact, our group has not met since February 28, as March 8 - our usual meeting time this year has been Friday at 10 am - we were away to take part in a memorial service for my father.

Our group practice, as is true of others, is to study the biblical text and message our pastor or other speaker delivers weekly. This meant taking notes of the messages to be prepared. In keeping with this, I have been trying to continue making notes of our church's messages during Covid 19 and sharing them with our group and whoever else is interested. The notes for March 22, 29 and April 26 are already on-line in this blog.

Here are the notes for April 5, April 10

2020 4 5 Call & Cost: The Suffering Servant – II Challenge and Reward – Palm Sunday Message - W. Pratt

Who did Jesus see himself to be and how did he understand his identity?

Luke 24:13-35 

When Jesus rose from the dead, even his disciples did not expect this. They only believed in the resurrection at the end of the age. Nor did they believe that the Messiah was destined to be killed by his enemies. 

This is borne out by the experience of the two believers on the road to Emmaus, recorded in this account of Luke’s. Jesus, by teaching them from the law and the prophets showed how he had come to understand his identity and calling from Scripture.

We can look at these scriptures, particularly the ones we are dealing with in this series, the Servant Songs of Isaiah. They tell a story of a servant called by God to deliver his people.

1.     This servant would be loyal and faithful to God in his calling/purpose.

2.     He would be at new covenant for God’s people.

3.     He would be salvation, a light to the whole world

Isaiah 49:1-7 is our second song in this series:

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands!

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth;

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.

49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,

he hid me in the hollow of his hand;

he made me like a sharpened arrow,

he hid me in his quiver.

49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”

49:4 But I thought, “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me.

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth to be his servant – 

he did this to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength – 

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant of Israel?

I will make you a light to the nations,

so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says

to the one who is despised and rejected by nations,

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect,

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

         the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

 There are eight things we can learn from this song:

1.  This is God’s plan from long ago. God knew people could not live up to his expectations, that they were powerless to keep the faith and the covenant on their own. However, he did not just stay in a state of disappointment or leave us to our feelings; he had a plan from “before I was born,” the servant says in vs. 1. 

There’s a hidden component to this plan, “in the shadow of his hand he hid me… in his quiver he hid me away.” (v. 2).  This was true until the spirit revealed it in New Testament times where it is referred to as a mystery.  This was intentional.  If God had revealed his whole plan ahead of time human beings would have had too much time to build a plan to resist and defeated it. 

2.  The servant would be a powerful instrument of God. Israel had kept running after other gods and nations, blunting God’s purpose. The servant would have a “mouth like a sharp sword” (v.2). This refers to the powerful words that God would use against his enemies. Proclaiming and living the word is the most powerful weapon to fight evil. Jesus saw himself from this as a prophetic teacher, knowing that God’s hand was behind what he was doing. He would also be “a polished arrow” (vs.2), which would not miss the mark. 

3. He would be Israel’s representative (vs. 3), completing God’s plan for another way through one person because the nation had failed. God’s plans for us in the world will be done.

4. The path would not be easy. The servant’s efforts would seem futile (vs. 4). His teaching would be rejected, his call unheeded; he would have few results during his lifetime.

5. God would reward faithful service, regardless of results (vs. 4).  Knowing this, Jesus cold take the hard path because of his faith and obedience.

6. The path was not a small mission; it would be global (vs. 5-6). The nation of Israel and God were estranged because of Israel’s failure, but Jesus would restore her to God, to herself and the world through his actions.

7. There will be opposition, even from his own people. Jesus, no more than we, could not take on such as task as this in the face of all of that if he did not truly believe in it and that he would be rewarded in the end.

8. Victory will come on a global scale. God would grant his Son this success on this path to restore and redeem his people and it would then also bring the servant glory. 

We can take heart from this, from what we see Jesus experiencing, in our own lives and in the life of our congregation when we look at our own witness, individually or collectively, in things like our food bank and community meal efforts.  We need to look at the bigger picture. Our lives should be shaped by our call and mission after the pattern of Jesus, not on whether we achieve results. Then it will be worth it in the end and God’s promises will be fulfilled. We will be rewarded for being faithful.

2020 4 10 Call & Cost: The Suffering Servant – III Teacher & Disciple - Good Friday Sermon – W. Pratt

This sermon is about discovering why Jesus knowingly - and willingly - took that costly path of going to the cross. What was his goal and the reward he was expecting?  It is also to provide a fresh look at the Easter story for all who hear, regardless of where they are at spiritually or in their faith journey. Easter is a good time for this as it explains Jesus mission better than anything and also provides hope for Christians all over the world.

Easter tells a story of Jesus being unfairly tried, tortured and crucified, but it was no accident; Jesus knew this was his path.  

Jesus predicted his death three times, with increasing detail. The disciples did not respond well though.

On the first occasion (Mark 8:27-33), Jesus asks who the disciples think he is. Peter did say he was the Messiah, but when Jesus then talked of his death Peter protested and Jesus had to rebuke him, partly because through that Jesus felt a temptation not to go this way. It was also because the disciples still believed that the way of The Messiah was the way of power and might as an earthly ruler would take. Jesu knew that was not his story. His was the way of denial of self and self-sacrifice.

On the second occasion (Mark 9:30-37), still thinking of the glory of the Messiah, the disciples earn another rebuke from Jesus for arguing amongst themselves as to who would be the greatest, who would get the most reward from God.  Jesus tells them good leadership is serving others, not being served.

The third time (Mark 10:32-45), two disciples actually ask for positions at Jesus’ right hand when he “comes into his kingdom.”

These stories are there to point out to us how we also fail because of our weaknesses, our ideas.

What made Jesus sure of his path? He discovered his identity in the scriptures: what he was called to be and what his life would look like. 

One of those passages, doubtless, was our text for today, Isaiah 50:4-9, the Suffering Servant Song number 3:

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman (the tongue of a teacher)

so that I know how to help & sustain the weary with a word.

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert, wakens my ear, so I can listen attentively as disciples, those who are taught, do.

50:5 The sovereign Lord God has spoken to me clearly, opened my ear;

I have not rebelled,

I have not turned back.

50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, who struck me,

my jaws, my cheeks, to those who tore out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from insults and spitting.

50:7 But the sovereign Lord God helps me,

so I am not humiliated or disgraced.

For that reason, I am steadfastly resolved; I have set my face like a flint,

I know I will not be put to shame.

50:8 The one who vindicates me is close by.

Who dares to contend, to argue with me? Let us stand up together and confront each other!

Who is my accuser, my adversary? Let him confront and challenge me!

50:9 Look, the sovereign Lord God helps me.

Who dares to condemn me or declare me guilty?

Look, all of them will wear out like clothes;

a moth will eat away at them.

What did Jesus see about himself and his mission here? We will see familiar themes but also new angles.

1.     A clear sense of calling and mission a particular vocation (v. 4). The word he teachers will shoot straight like an arrow to its target as we saw in the previous message (April 5). In this case, it can be our weary hearts. 

The teaching will support, sustain and help the weak be lifted up and stand, pointing the way of the lost back to God. The message was to be an upbuilding message of hope. But many did not like his message, saw it as a threat, even misleading to their people.

2.     The servant will be taught directly by God himself. That is what is truly prophetic, not just predictive; the instruction is directly from God without an intermediary. But the message was not always that direct. As

even Isaiah said, his message was to make the people hear but not understand, see but not perceive, to make their hearts hardened, ear dull & eyes closed.  This refers to Israel’s repeated rejection of God’s calls, e.g. through the prophets he sent them. They were to be God’s servant, but failed, so God let their hearts be hardened etc. as a form of punishment. If you want, this is what you will get. 

But the real servant will open his ears, will be obedient; he will not turn his back and rebel. He will even endure torture meekly in the face of hostility. All this did happen to Jesus on Good Friday. He did not resist arrest or torture. He was whipped, mocked, spat on by those who were also pulling out his beard. Jesus did not fight back because he saw violent resistance was not his path as Messiah and future king. 

Why did he not fight back? Would that not have been just? The disciples expected this but were rebuked, as we saw. Jesus chose this way because he knew violence begets more violence, even in just causes. Jesus taught that living by the sword brings death by the sword. Violence sets off a never-ending cycle of violence – the wars of the earth, even personal strife. Jesus broke this by putting violence to death on the cross. 

3.     Jesus also knew he would be vindicated upheld by God. What proved this more than his resurrection, being restored to new life! (v. 8) Shame meant to be proven wrong because of one’s own failure, a lack 

of wisdom and strength. Resurrection would yield glory too. This allowed Jesus to tolerate whatever came his way, to give up his life for the good of others. Jesus knew the enemy’s plans would disappear, as graphically described in v. 9.

Was Jesus’ confidence justified? This will be dealt with in the next message, April 12. Sorry, at this point I still do not have the notes for April 12 and 19 up.

Here is May 3:

2020 5 3 Knowing the (Signs of the) Times: Making Sense of a Covid-19 World – V Refining Process

I Peter 1:7-9 – W. Pratt

Again, we are learning that Jesus expects us to pay attention to what is occurring in our world. What is the meaning of the signs we see? What is God trying to tell us? Jesus wants s to judge for ourselves what is right and the wisely respond.

Covid-19 is a test for us all. We can’t just go back to things as they were. There are lessons to be learned. We might see something here that God is doing.

This all reminds us that:

1.     God allows testing – for a purpose, to prove the genuineness of our faith: “1:7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though 

it is passing away – and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 

In these times of testing, do we trust God, do we believe his promises, do we accept his guidance and follow his teachings, do we obey his instructions?

Example #1 Israel in the wilderness: They had been stuck in Egypt with no way our short of a miracle. They knew that in their past they had been promised a land of their own, but they were not there yet. Then, a miracle! The Exodus and a mighty delivery at the hand of God. But no sooner are they across the Red Sea (passing through the waters) than God leads them into the wilderness. God is testing their trust, their commitment, but they fail. They complain about lack of food and water. They want to return to the security of the familiar. They did not believe God would carry them through; they were listening to fear. They wanted to turn back! From freedom to slavery again?

Example #2 Jesus in the wilderness: No sooner had Jesus had the mountaintop experience at his baptism (passing through the waters) of God’s approval and the infilling of the Holy Spirit to empower him to execute God’s new plan of delivery for his people, then he is led into the wilderness. Here he is tested in three areas by the Devil himself:       i.  His leadership quality – will he turn stone to bread to eat, use his power to his own advantage?

                        ii. The nature of his faith and trust – will he leap from the temple to see if God can be trusted to 

                        keep him from harm?

                        iii. The degree of his allegiance and fidelity to God – Will he bow down to Satan to take a shortcut 

                        to ruling the world? 

Unlike Israel, Jesus passes the test, proving his faith and character. This was necessary for him to be a worthy son, beyond reproach, of carrying out his mission. What helped him was the Spirit and his knowledge of God’s word.

2.     Testing is a refining process: 

“3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier 

of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver (Malachi 3:2-4).” 

Refining is a process of purification by fire, which can also burn us if we fall short. It is necessary though to burn of the ‘dross’, the impurities. God tests us by turning up the heat to drive out our impurities. Have impurities been exposed because of this pandemic? What about:

a.     Trusting what doesn’t, in the end, deliver

                                               i.     the economy, our wealth, our jobs. People have lost their jobs, seen their businesses go down, their savings vanish.

                                             ii.     Social and economic status – no protection here; everyone is vulnerable

                                            iii.     Science and technology – we have found out we don’t have all the answers, we don’t know everything

b.     Inequality?       i. we see more vulnerable groups like the poor, indigenous people, homeless and those in care homes

                        ii. Whole underdeveloped nations are at greater risk, but our first world nations have suffered greatly too

c.     Leadership – poor leadership is showing its weakness in how those under such leaders suffer more. They have provided a false sense of security. Only God can be fully trusted.

All these societal problems must be burned away if we are going to have a better world, one more closely resembling what God desires.

But there are positives too: The planet is showing how resilient it is, how it can recover if given a chance. Pollution is less, resulting in cleaner air and water. Fish and other sea life is being seen anew in places where it was too polluted before. Animals and birds are coming out of hiding, reclaiming spaces left open by our reduced activity.

Nature is showing us, our Creator God is showing us, radical change can reverse things in our world.

The Apostle Paul wrote of this: 

                        “8:19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in hope 8:21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now (Romans 8:19-22).”

3.     Testing is a transforming process: “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, (Romans 8:28-29a).”

We can be reformed into a purer image of the Son to better reflect his image to the world. We were created in God’s image, reflecting it as planned to begin with, but sin spoiled that. We were in fact “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” as the passage above says. That was God’s plan from the beginning. 

We need to ask ourselves, How well do we reflect God’s image? How brightly do we shine? Silversmiths refine their silver until it is so pure they can perfectly see their reflection in it. Do people see in us what they want to be like? Do they see something we have that they want? 

We can’t play things down. Our world is currently in bad shape – the illness, the deaths, the strain on our health care and other systems, the economic impact. We don’t know yet how it will ultimately playout. 

We though, should be able to rest secure in the knowledge that we can have confidence, and therefore hope, in God and the security he provides, the good plans he has for our ultimate destiny, regardless of how bad the circumstances are. We need to show the world that there is hope, there is help. We need to show concern for the social justice and health of our planet and all on it.

4.     Given all that, Jesus says these tests are still but birth pangs of something bigger coming: “13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to 

5.     come. 13:8 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains (Mark 13:7-8).”

The world is beautiful but broken. All is not well. Nature, creation, man and society are not working in harmony as they should (see Rom. 8 references above). Cretin is waiting for us to be revealed as the image of the Son of God, to reign with him on earth as originally intended, to be free to function as God meant us to. Of course, this will not be fully realized until Christ’s return when we can really show the glory we were once given, to rule with God.

God is showing us that all is not well, that the dross needs removal, but also that there is hope for a new and better world. He is slowly restoring his image in us. How is this happening?

i.               Neighbours are caring for neighbours

ii.              People are putting others’ interests before their own

iii.            There is renewed care and compassion for the needy

iv.            People are putting the life of others first, sacrificing themselves like Jesus did

v.              People are noticing the planet and realizing more that we need to take better care of it.

We were created in God’s image to rule with him but all of that became covered over by the dross of sin. If we are believers, Jesus is restoring us and will do so fully at his return. Till then, we groan with creation.

So, to sum up:  

1.     Does God allow tough times of testing? Yes, he does – to prove us and help develop us into what we are meant to be

2.     Do times of testing have any value, do they have a purpose? Again, yes; they can purify us.

3.     Can any good come if it? Yes, it can point to a better future, greater hope and renewed signs of God in us.

Again, follow Jesus’ admonition to read the signs of the times for what they say and judge how to most faithfully respond.

2020 5 4 

2020 3 29 Call & Cost: The Suffering Servant – I Call & Character – W. Pratt

This is, as our pastor stated, a delayed start to an Easter series he was excited about but thought he needed to address the crisis of our times first (See March 22 – Keeping Faith in the Storm). As he said, we plan, but reality takes over. 

This series will examine how Jesus knew what his calling was and what kept him on the costly path to faithful fulfilment of his mission. He was fully human and so, like us, was a unique individual whose development, to be a mature and successful person who would accomplish his calling, needed him to have a healthy self-understanding of (1) who he was, his identity, and (2) what he was called to do.

During his walk on earth, Jesus at least three times predicted his death (Mark 8:31-3, 9:30-2, 10:32-4). This tells us he had come to understand that the cross, death, was part of his calling. But how did he come to know this, what motivated him, what did he hope to achieve, why was this a necessary part of his calling/mission?

Pastor Winston here shared how he had felt called from a career in business to become a pastor. We need to follow our calling if we do not want to miss out on what life, what God has in store for us.

How then did Jesus learn of his calling?

1.     His parents, who had been told who he was to be, the Messiah, no doubt told him this when they gauged he was old enough to begin to understand.

2.     We see this in that already, at age 12, when he was found debating with religious leaders in the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus told his parents he needed to be “about the father’s business.” He identified God as his father. Perhaps he wanted to learn from these leaders what they understood from scripture of who the Messiah was to be and what was his mission.

Quite possibly one of the passages they considered was one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, e.g., 42:1-9:

42:1 “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees for the nations.

42:2 He will not cry out or shout;

he will not publicize himself in the streets. 

42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,

a dim wick he will not extinguish;

he will faithfully make just decrees.

42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed

before establishing justice on the earth;

the coastlands will wait in anticipation for his decrees.”

42:5 This is what the true God, the Lord, says – 

the one who created the sky and stretched it out,

the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, 

the one who gives breath to the people on it,

and life to those who live on it:

42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you;

I take hold of your hand.

I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people,

and a light to the nations,

42:7 to open blind eyes,

to release prisoners from dungeons,

those who live in darkness from prisons.

42:8 I am the Lord! That is my name!

I will not share my glory with anyone else,

or the praise due me with idols.

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass;

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.”

Here, Jesus would have gotten insight into something of his call:

            i. The nature of his ministry – v. 1 – he was to be a servant to his people

ii. The character of a servant – true to God, faithful to his ways (v. 3), delighting in doing his father’s will, which would bring real success (v. 4) 

iii. He would be a leader with a gentle touch (v.2-3). This can make us question, what kind of servant or

leader are we?

iv. The goal of his ministry (v.3-4) – he was to bring righteousness, justice & hope, re-establishing God’s 

order into all of society - setting it on the right way, God’s path.

v. the purpose of his ministry (v. 6) -  to renew the covenant and bring light, including to the Gentiles.

In other words, he was to begin to bring The Kingdom of God back to this earth (v. 4).

            vi. What he was to accomplish:

                  Live a life that would be:   a. The basis of a new relationship between God and his people (v. 6)

                                                            b. Hope for the restoration and renewal the world seeks. He would make the

world right and good as originally intended. He would open up God’s blessings to all.

                                    c. An act of liberation – opening the eyes of the blind, not only physically, 

but from the darkness of this world to the light of God’s ways (v. 6-7). He would free us from our

prisons of patterns and habits that chain us down, lock us up, releasing us from the darkness and 

gloom of our broken world.

vii. What the power behind his call would be: God’s Spirit would be on him (v. 1, 6)

viii. What a privileged position this servant would have – he would be first to know what God was about and what his role in it was (v. 1, 6, 8-9). The Father would take him into his confidence. The servant’s obedience and faithfulness would grant him a special place in the Father’s trust, in his heart. His faithfulness to God tells us we can put our faith in him.

All of this helped shape Jesus’ self-understanding and identity as the Messiah, so he was able to live up to and fulfil all of it, to prove himself.

Likewise, if we believe in Jesus, we can let him show us our call, our destiny and empower us to fulfil it as he did, also as the same kind of servant.

Like Jesus, we can also look to determine our identity by studying God’s word. 

As believers in Jesus, he ultimately defines who we are; our identity can only be fully found in him.

2020 4 30

2020 4 26 Knowing the Signs of the Times - Wake Up Call: Making Sense of a Covid-19 World - Notes on a sermon

This sermon on April 26, 2020 by our pastor, Winston Pratt (Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada) is very timely and deserving of a wider audience. You can listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mPUiJDxcro and my notes on it are here

from Luke 12:54-57; Pastor Winston Pratt 

12:54 Jesus also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A rainstorm is coming,’ and it does. 12:55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and there is. 12:56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how can you not know how to interpret the present time?

We can see from this passage that Jesus expects us to “know how to interpret” the times. We are not bystanders watching form a distance but need to be wise interpreters of how and where God is at work and what God might be trying to tell us. 

Reaching the wrong conclusions can be disastrous.

Today, dealing with a pandemic and Canada’s worst contemporary mass shooting people are asking: 

Where is God? 

What does this mean?

What is happening?

How should Christians respond?

We need to be able to think biblically to know how to:

1.     respond to our world

2.     be faithful to God

3.     live in hope

4.     be a beacon of hope, a witness to our world

We don’t need to defend God. God can defend himself. The Bible does not explain or justify many of God’s acts. They are recorded to help us see who God really is and what he has done, is doing and will do.

Israel in exile in Babylon in the 6^th century BCE was asking the same questions as are being asked today. In the midst of God telling them their being there was his doing but that he will deliver, restore them (Isaiah 54-5) God’s response was “Isaiah 55:8 “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds.”

In the midst of crises such as ours we need to accept the following truths:

1.     God’s ways are not our ways. We can’t fully understand this transcendent Being, let alone be like him in our knowing and ability to control things and determine outcomes. But God has left us a witness – the scriptures – to tell us what we need to know. He also revealed himself most fully in Jesus and this is recorded in those scriptures.

2.     God is always active and involved in his world. He is not “Watching from a Distance” as Bette Midler sings and as the 17^th and 18^th century Deists thought. This can even include the direction of pagan kings without their knowing it, such as Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar and Persia’s Cyrus. Mostly though, he is behind the scenes. We tend to understand things in hindsight, although the nearer we keep to God, the more likely we are to understand sooner than if not close to God.

3.     There is a bigger picture of God acting than what we might see in front of us, and we need to keep that in mind and seek to discern what that is.

Jesus also pointed out, as recorded in Luke 13, how we judge wrongly: “13:1 Now there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 13:2 He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things? 13:3No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish as well! 13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 13:5 No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish as well!”

The points we can make from this are:

1.     We make wrong judgments: “They deserve it.” No, the message is for us to repent to be sure we are prepared for come what may, so that we do not also perish. 

2.     Bad things happen to good and bad people. Jesus’ healing of a blind man (John 9:1-3) was not because of a need to correct any sin on his or his parents part but to show God’s power. Too often we need our own spiritual blindness corrected.

3.     Tragedies should remind us that our day of reckoning could come quickly too.

4.     Suffering can have a purpose in God’s plan. The ultimate example is Jesus on the cross. The powers of evil thought by killing him they had won, but it was really their defeat. All of this knowledge should give us hope we can share. We should not turn elsewhere for answers and support.

5.     These things can be signs of the end times, “birth pangs”, beginnings, Jesus called them (Mark 13:8); signs of something new God is doing. However, he did not expect us to try and predict when the time of the end will be, as he told his disciples during his ministry and again before ascending to heaven (Mark 13:32, Acts 1:7). That is wrong.

Questions for us:

1.     Has God given up on the world and left it to follow a course to its own ruin? No, God created the world good and God will now allow us to totally change that. Look what he did in Noah’s time and at the Tower of Babel when humans were doing other than what God wanted.

2.     Are the bad being punished? Are we being punished for being bad? No, God can use these things to show his power and glory.

3.     Is this a sign of the end? Not necessarily. In any case, what did Jesus tell us? Watch and pray, but go about your work (Mark 13).

4.     What is God telling us?

a.     Life is short and unpredictable; are we ready to face that?

b.     Something new is underway in the world. Can we see what it is?

5.     How are we reading the signs of the times? Are we mistakenly going our own way and making our own judgments? Jesus wants us to see him for who he is.

This could still be a wake-up call for us all!

2020 3 22 Keeping Faith in the Storm - notes on a sermon

The sermon on March 22, 2020 by our pastor, Winston Pratt (Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada), I thought deserved a wider audience. You can listen to it here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed5LuKMNmCc and following are my notes from it:  

When it comes to storm s that can rock us and shake our faith, Covid-19 is one facing us all, globally. It tells us our lives are not as secure and comfortable as we thought; we are not as self-reliant as we thought we could be.

We can learn from Daniel 3 how we can respond. When three Jewish counselors of th eking refused to worship his gods and bow down to a golden statue he had built, as commanded, they wer brought before the king.

They said to the king: “O [king], we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter (3:16).

1.      If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… O king, let him deliver us (3:17)

2.     But if not… O king… we will not worship your gods and we will not worship the golden statue you have set up.”

If God honours a response like #1, we bear witness to God’s goodness and power in our lives. 

If not, we still have victory as, if we are secure in our faith, in death we receive the ultimate delivery and experience final victory as we end up in heaven. 

This should help us maintain good faith-based thinking under pressure. It can help us:

1.     Grow in the quality of our faith 

2.     Strengthen our character and develop greater resilience

3.     Provide occasion for God to reveal his extraordinary power in us

Romans 5:1-5 also has a message like this for us. Suffering is said to yield endurance, endurance character and character hope “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit that has been given to us (Rom. 5:3-5).” 

James 1:2-4 gives us the same assurance. In fact, it says “whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be nature and complete, lacking nothing.” 

Mark 4:35-41 (and its parallels in Matt. 8:23-27 & Luke 8:22-25) give us another example of this situation. Jesus and the disciples are caught in a storm on the sea of Galilee and the disciples’ faith, such as it might have been, gave way to fear. Jesus is awakened – he was sleeping! – and calms the storm. Then, “He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Firstly, Jesus ability to calm the storm raised a new fear in the disciples: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” With fear, we are unable to think straight and see what might be really going on. Rather, we focus on the perceived threat.”

Secondly, the disciples failed the test. Jesus, Immanuel, ‘God with us’, was right in the boat with them. But they did not see him as such yet. This should remind us that, whatever crisis we find ourselves in as believers, Jesus is with us in his Spirit! He has told us: “…remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).”As Daniel’s three friends asserted, as such, we can be delivered, but if not, humanly speaking, on another level, we will be taken care of.

Pastor Winston also shared the story of Louise Loewen, whom we recently remembered with her passing. She had gone through some significant trials: running for her life from the enemy at age 17, coming to a new country to start a new life at 20, a couple of bouts of cancer and surgeries over a long span. However, she never lost her faith.

We can also pass the tests, personally, with God at our side. We can continue in hope because:

1.     Christ is with us in the storms and trials of life

2.     Tough times are not wasted. God in his grace and mercy can use them to grow our faith and character

1.     There is always hope. God will give us what he knows we need; he will take us through and make us stronger 

We can be a calming presence among our family, friends and community because of our faith if we believe all this. We can have the faith and strength of Daniel’s friends.

May God give us peace and use us as a witness to God’s goodness and providence and so bring him glory.

The Most Important Decision of My Life

Oh, what’s this, some of you might say. Is this new? No, and it’s not the decision to leave the prairies for British Columbia in 2005. It’s not even getting married in 1977. Nor is it choosing to go into medicine as a career in 1965. It’s a decision I made when I was a youngster of seven years of age, maybe six. 

I refer to my decision to become a Christian. Actually, it was not entirely different than the decision many children make to follow the faith of their parents, their ancestors. When you grow up in a certain faith, to begin with, that I all you know. You accept it as the norm. 

You see, I come from a line of Christians that can be traced back to the Reformation in the 1600s in Europe. My ancestors were likely Dutch and had become part of the Anabaptist movement. They were called that because they chose to be re-baptized on confession of their own faith. They had come to the conclusion, through their study of the scriptures, the Bible, which was becoming available because of the printing press, that the infant baptism practiced by The Church at the time was not biblically based. This had been the practice of the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. The first Reformers, the Lutheran and then Reformed Church, continued the practice, as did bodies like the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church after that.

So, my parents, at least to me at the time and in my growing up years, were wonderful models of what I have come to understand it means to be a Christian. Our home was filled with love, generosity and hospitality. Our parents helped many a neighbour. 

My parents were in fact what we called missionaries. They had felt called to live among Manitoba’s indigenous people and be a witness there to the message they had come to believe in their own lives. Father was our pastor. He and mother were our Sunday school teachers and music leaders. Sometimes there were extra activities for children and in the summer, Daily Vacation Bible School. Father, for the Protestants, and the local Roman Catholic priest for the Catholics, even taught Religion classes in the local school, which was allowed then (this was the early 1950s).

So, I had heard the story of the Bible from infancy on. I knew the good news, the gospel message. Simply put, it was that all we humans have gone astray from the way our Creator God had intended. He had sent his Son, the long-promised Anointed One (Messiah in Hebrew or Christ in Greek) to become one of us humans, the miracle of God become man – the big word is Incarnate – to show us what God was really like and what God was about. Ultimately, the world did not want to see it, hear it and - we likely know the story – Jesus, his human name, was killed; crucified in fact. However, three days later he shocked everyone by rising from the dead to live a further forty days on earth before disappearing out of his followers’ sight, saying he was returning to heaven.

In those forty days, Jesus clarified what his death and resurrection were all about. We, mere humans, could never make our way back to our original state, much as we might like to. Our current state ends in death though – permanent separation from our Creator. Jesus showed and taught that God did not want that. He loved us, his creation, too much for that to be left uncorrected. God wanted to restore that relationship, but how? The only way was for Christ, as God, to take our place, take on our fallen state and die in our stead. Jesus and the Apostles after him explained that this miracle was possible through God’s love, mercy and grace. All we had to do was believe this message, accept that what Jesus did to remove our separation from God.

As a young child, I was aware that there were too many times I had failed and disappointed my parents. In those days, it was still customary to get the strap if you were naughty, if you did wrong. I knew my parents did not like to administer that punishment. They told us so. Father would say it hurt him as much as us to have to do this. One evening, I broke down in tears and asked my parents what I needed to do to solve this dilemma. I neither wanted to disappoint them nor hurt them. 

As I think back on this, I think – what a wonderful way to model how God feels towards us. God does not want us to have the consequence of our actions – death – either. He loves us too much to see us disappear from relationship with him in death. After all, he made us to share his love. He also hurts when we do wrong. 

My parents pulled out a Bible and read a couple of verses to us – my younger sister was joining me in this by this time. They were I John 2:1-2: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father (God), Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the world.”

In other words, Jesus had made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Not only that, he was now pleading or case before his father in Heaven. If Jesus was doing that for us, what more could one ask. 

My sister and I accepted these words that evening. We prayed with our parents, acknowledging or unhappy state and felt and believed that God had indeed forgiven us, accepted us back, and that from then on, we were right with God. We had entered into a new relationship with God which is what God wanted all along. That was some sixty-five years ago and I have never looked back. I wish everyone could share this.

Now, if you have read this far, some of you who are skeptic might say – you were a child, what did you know. Indeed, the unspoken question there is why am I still a Christian. That is another story. I hope I get to tell it too.