The Arc of God’s Story IV: Tabernacle & Temple

2020 6 7  – W. Pratt

 

This message was spoken for our congregation on the above date. I am sharing it here for your benefit. There are some good diagrams to go with this but I was unsuccessful in loading them. You can see them at the Youtube site where this message is recorded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0JrGz70TS4&t=1483s

We have been camping with the Israelites in the Exodus story the past two weeks. 

1.    In the first week, we saw how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt and we also notice how God restored them to our high calling as priests and rulers in God's kingdom. 

2.    Last week, my good friend Matt Kitchener spoke about the special covenant God

established with them. God gave them words of wisdom for their life together as his people.

Now, God is finally ready to come and dwell on earth again. What an exciting moment it's been. Nearly 500 years since the call of Abraham. It's a major moment in the arc of God's story. This was the real physical in-person presence of God coming to be with humanity on a permanent basis again. This was nothing short of Eden being restored.

God's grand plan was still on track and God's great desire to be with us is being fulfilled.  God tells Moses to build a tabernacle that is a special tent like structure for him to dwell in. It was meant to be portable so that it could travel with them on their journey. This is what God says: have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them. Then God gives him detailed instructions about its construction and its purpose, saying make this tabernacle and all of its furnishings, exactly like the pattern that I will show you. 

What was that pattern? What did the tabernacle look like? It had a three-part structure.

1.    There was an outer courtyard enclosed by a fabric fence.

2.    Then there was a tent inside that was divided into two sections. The outer section was

called the Holy Place.

3.    The inner section at the far end, at the back end was called the most holy place of all, the Holy of Holies.

It was a tent with three chambers, so we can ask ourselves the question, what did it signify?

This is where things get really, really interesting. It's three partitions have clear echoes back to earlier elements in the story. 

So, allow me to drop in at three points in the past. This may sound a little bit technical but I promise to keep it simple. It will become clear as we connect the dots and the payoff will be

totally worth it. I promise that you won't be able to read those old stories in the same way again. 

(1)  First, think back to Genesis 1 and 2. God created the world, the cosmos, as a temple palace for him to live in. Remember also the important interpretive principle that we

mentioned right at the start of the series. Here it is again: the principle is this. The Bible is written for us but not to us. What does it mean? It was written for our instruction and for our benefit, but it was written for an ancient audience. It was written in the symbolic language that they were familiar with, where they stood; it worked with their conception of the world. Then, it slowly reshaped it so what do we see in the creation story is that the universe has a three-fold structure, as illustrated here.

1.    First, there is the realm in which God lives, the realm beyond all the other realms.

2.    Secondly, there is the celestial realm that is the domain of the visible heavenly bodies like the Sun and the moon and the planets and the stars.

3.    Thirdly, there is the earthly realm, the space and the domain where we live and a place that we inhabit: the land, the sea, the rivers and the air.

What was striking about the Bible's unique story of creation was its different worldview: That the world was made by a single God, Yahweh, not many gods and also that the material world was a good place set up for Humanity and all the other creatures to thrive and to flourish.

This is mind-blowing stuff to an ancient who counted the world as chaotic and unpredictable and a dangerous place. There's more. Even more astounding than this is the fact that God chose to come down and to make earth, this place, his home and he chose humanity to rule as vice-regents and ministering priests in his kingdom for him. Mind-blowing stuff to an ancient:  a good God doing good things for our benefit so we can flourish was totally unthinkable. 

However, the important thing for you and I to see today is that God was to choose to be with us; God was coming down to dwell with us. This is what God was saying in their language. I'm pitching my tent here on earth with you. He was, in a sense, ‘tabernacling’ amongst them, so that's the universal picture.

(2)  Secondly, what about earth? our dwelling place. It turns out that our domain has a three-part structure too, from the Genesis story. Eden was the sacred space or the sanctuary

with God's presence, where he came to rest, to reside. 

Now, a close reading of the text allows us to see that Eden was in fact separate from the garden. This is what Genesis says: Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden and

there he put the man that he had formed. A little later it says this: a river watering the garden flowed out from Eden. From there we are told that it flowed out to the four corners of the known

world.

This is the picture that we get, as shown below:

1.    First there is God's sanctuary on earth, where his presence resides. The River of Life flows out from Eden to the earth and it has its source right there. 

2.    The garden is alongside and it's where Adam and Eve live. They tend to it on God's behalf and they're also sustained by its abundance of trees for food.

3.    Tthen, thirdly, beyond the garden is the rest of the world. it is not yet neat and orderly like the garden and they are commanded to multiply and to fill it and also to bring order to it.

Let's pause for a moment to take that picture in. God's desire is for his glory to fill the earth and his wise rule to be extended across the world. How was he planning to do this? Through Adam and Eve and we can say by extension through us, through you and through me. Consider this as we rightly live into our identity as image bearers and as we properly fulfill our calling as godly rulers. We take God's presence and God's glory with us into the world, yet God intends to fill the earth with his glory through us. What a noble calling we have as the people of God in Christ. We carry the kingdom of Jesus, the kingdom that he inaugurated with us wherever we go. Or rather, I could say it this way: we should be carrying the kingdom with us wherever we go.

The next question is, this whose kingdom is reflected in our life and witness? God's kingdom or the kingdom of the ruler of this world. That's a poignant question and let's be honest we see that being played out before us in America right now. Now let me say that Canada is not exempt from criticism either. We know that we have a similar track record in this regard - but this is topical in America at the moment, especially in light of the killing of George Floyd and the outpouring of anger over anti-black racism that has followed. The evangelical church there has been composed by the politics of nationalism in some quarters.

The agenda of the church has become somewhat conflated with the agenda of the state and the church seems to be endorsing power in order to bring about its version of the kingdom. You could say Jesus's kingdom looks like the kingdom of conservative America and many are watching and asking whose interests are you serving. More pointedly, whose image is shining through you?

So, I want us to remember Jesus's words to Peter when Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus at his arrest. Jesus said to him, put your sword back in its place Peter. Those who take up the sword will die by the sword.  In other words, that's not the way that my kingdom will come in and that's not consistent with the values of my kingdom. 

The thing for us to note is that God intended to extend the character and the rule of his kingdom through us.  What an amazing privilege. Except - we were kicked out of the garden and we were sent into exile beyond Eden because we had become defiled by sin. We got banished from the personal presence of God and the way back to Eden was blocked and heavily guarded. 

What does God do? God begins anew with Abraham and Sarah. He chooses this elderly pair to make a new start to achieve his purposes and his plan. He promises them a land of their

own and he also promises them that he will make them fruitful and they will become a large nation. He promises to extend his blessings to the rest of the world through them.

Where we are we today? Around 500 years pass and they have faced many hardships and tests including slavery. Then God steps in to rescue and restore them through Moses and makes a covenant with them as they prepare to enter into the Promised Land.

One more picture and then we will return to the sanctuary. Moses was told to hold the Israelites camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, but God calls Moses and 70 of the elders of Israel up

to the mountain to meet with him there. They go up but not all the way and God appears and they see what looks like the underside of God's footstool. They have a theophany, a vision of God. It's a powerful picture of God's feet resting on the mountain, in a sense showing that the earth has become his footstool. Later, only Moses can ascend to the top to meet with God to

receive the tablets of stone and while there Moses is engulfed in a cloud of God's presence.

As we consider the scene, again we notice a three-fold structure, as seen here:

1.     There is the outer zone for the ordinary people. They must stay at the base of the mountain and not touch it and not approach it. 

2.    The middle zone is for the chosen representatives, those seventy elders. They can ascend and get closer but they can't go all the way up. 

3.    God's special presence is right at the top and only Moses can meet with God there. 

The feature for us to note is the increased levels of holiness as you get closer to God. The closer you get the more restricted the access. Also important for us to see is that you can't just approach God in any way to get in close.

Now we come back to the tabernacle and I want us to note the gradations of holiness and the levels of access, again as illustrated:

1.    The ordinary people could come into the courtyard for worship and in the courtyard, there was an altar for animals to be sacrificed by the priests and there was also a large basin for ritual washing and cleansing. Together they can note our need to be forgiven and to be washed and cleansed from sin. 

2.    Then the next part, the second, there was the middle part the, holy place only the priest could enter. It contained the seven-branched menorah, a reminder of the tree of life in 

the garden. There was also a table for the bread of God's presence or the showbread reminding them of God sustenance in the garden. There was also an altar for incense, a symbol of the

prayers of the people going up before God. Again, a beautiful picture.

3.    Then there was the innermost zone, what we refer to as the Holy of Holies. It contained the Ark of the Covenant with its two tablets of stone. The lid of the ark was called the 

atonement seat or the atonement cover. 

God spoke to Moses from above this cover. His voice could be heard from above the seat. Only the high priest could enter into that chamber and only once a year. This place symbolized the holy presence of God himself on earth. In a sense this was where heaven and earth came together once again and we could say just like in Eden. 

As we think about this I want us to note that the outer zone is the zone furthest away from God. It's like the outer zone of the garden. I also want us to note the middle zone for the priestly representatives like Adam and Eve in the garden. Then note the most holy place where God dwelt is like Eden from which flows the river of life that sustained all of the earth. 

This threefold pattern is full of resonances to God's original plan and God's great desire. The designs mirror each other because they reflect the same intent by God. The tabernacle brings us back to God's presence so that the blessings of Eden can flow out from God to the world.

Bringing this home for us today - if the Bible is written for us, what does all of this mean? That's a good question and important for us to consider. 

1.    Firstly, it shows that God's great desire remains to be with us and it also shows us the great lengths to which God will go to make that desire happen. He was slowly but surely 

working out his plan. in a sense. the goal may have been long in coming from our standpoint but his sovereign hand was at work keeping things on track all the time. I want us today to take comfort in this. Take comfort in this thought. We so easily lose hope during those long stretches between the mountaintop experiences but these stretches call for patient steadfast faith and hope. It was 500 years between Abraham and Moses and it was also 430 years between Joseph and Mount Sinai. Faith is holding on

to God's promises even when the results that we expect are not immediately forthcoming.

Nothing can stop these purposes from being achieved for God’s people. How long between Eden in the beginning of the story and Sinai where we are right now? Who knows? Maybe millennia but eventually though things do come together for good according to God's plan.

2.    Secondly, it also reveals that God by His grace makes a way for us to be restored into a right relationship with himself again. What wonderful news that is. The entrance back into 

the garden in a sense has been reopened and the barrier has been removed through the sacrifice of atonement. We can be close to God again and we can approach God without being

consumed by the fire of his holiness because of our sin. God has established a way for us to be forgiven and cleansed and to be at peace with him.

3.    Thirdly it highlights the centrality of God's presence and his word. Keep in mind the two are inseparable in worship and what we are doing today. We draw near to God's

presence and we listen to God's voice through his word. I could put it this way. There is no proper word apart from God's presence. If he is not there, there is no worship. Neither can we live out our call without being grounded in God's Word.  His presence and his word are inseparable. ere in the story we see that God moves in the midst of his people to be at the center of their life together and to lead them in the way that they should go. 

The tabernacle as we saw it was a portable tent to go with them on their journey. The temple that came later was God's fixed abode once they were settled in the land. The temple had the same design and structure. It's important for us to remember that that reality is the same for us today, whether we are wandering or whether we are settled, whether we are gathered for worship or whether we are scattered into the world.

In order to serve, Christ's presence is real and with us by the power of his spirit. Christ shapes and leads us by the power of his word so whether we meet virtually or whether we meet in person, worshipers offering praise and giving thanks to him for his great goodness.

We also come into God's presence as priests interceding for others and interceding for the world, bringing their needs to God and mediating God's love and God's blessing back to them. What a wonderful picture for us. We also come into his presence as disciples learning from his word how to live as his people and also how to bear witness as God's image bearers and as ambassadors for Christ.

God's great desire is to be with us and to fill us with this presence, to make this a reality in

our lives.  The invitation is always open: will you follow Christ? Will you choose to become part of God's great love story for his world. This is what I hope that you will do today.

The Arc of God’s Story IV: Law & Wisdom

2020 5 31 -The Arc of God’s Story IV: Law & Wisdom – M. Kitchener, Youtube Transcript

This is a message given to Peace Mennonite Church May 31, 2020. I share the Youtube transcript re-formatted for your benefit:

I want to let you know just a little bit about what's been happening since I've been with you last. I'm currently serving as an intern at a long-term care home in South Vancouver. For me each morning I'm there starts about the same I walk through the door.  I'm met by somebody right at the door who takes my temperature. Every one of those little things done. A thermometer held up to your head, scary the first time but they take your temperature and then they pull out a swab that you have to swab your phone. You have to sanitize your hands and then they give you a mask for the day. That's how my morning starts now. 

That probably doesn't surprise you too much that all those stipulations are in place but the fact that it doesn't surprise you itself shows you how much our world has changed since I was with you last. Picture yourself a year ago and imagine that your year-ago self had a time machine of some kind that brought you to this point, dropped you off here. Without context, you were all of a sudden dropped in this new space with all the new rules but didn't understand what was going on. So. you get out and you see by your feet there's these lines or big round pictures of feet where you can stand while you wait in long lines to get into the grocery store. You're told no you cannot visit your friends or your family and no you cannot go to a theatre or a concert. You certainly cannot go to church. Wouldn't you wonder what happened? What happened to the Canada that I know and love that all of a sudden I'm dropped into this place with all these random rules. Why? Because you're stuck with rules without a context you don't understand what the rules are about.

As we come to our text this morning we find that we can live this way with God's rules, God's words, God's commands as well, when we look at them without context. It's a particular problem with how we think of the Ten Commandments or as I'll be calling them today, the 10 words. 

If you ask people to recite these ten words/Ten Commandments you may get an answer like I saw this week on an online video. The interviewer was walking down the street asking random kids to tell her the Ten Commandments. One young man said ‘thou shalt not kill.’ Right, good, “thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie, doing pretty well so far, thou shalt not be angry even if you feel angry. And then he said ’forgive and forget.’ You know three out of five, that's not too bad. He did totally make up the fifth one but even if people know all ten, even if they can recite them one to ten, usually they'll start like this one: “you shall have no other gods before me.’ But that's not how it starts. That's not how the ten words start. Let's look at it together: Exodus chapter 20 verse 1-17. 

Of course, there's more details in there but what's the big deal? Why am I making such a big deal about the Beginning. It's because the introduction is crucial to understanding these words. People separate the 10 words from the speaker of the words. We tend to separate rules from relationship and we see strictness disconnected from story. What we need is a context. That's what you needed when you were dropped into this new reality. You needed to understand there's this thing called Covid-19 and in light of Covid-19 all these restrictions make sense. We need to understand that as the people of God we need the context of God so that we might understand and appreciate and live into his words. 

Now Winston has been giving you a beautiful gift of context in this sermon series; giving you the big part of the story of God, the story of God being with his people. Last week I understand he brought us to the foot of Mount Sinai where God is reestablishing a covenant with Israel. Remember the people of Israel. They've been enslaved to this dictator Pharaoh. They called out to God who heard them, rescued them and brought them to freedom. You heard last week in Exodus 19, God was deepening the covenant that he had made with Abram and all the way back to Adam and now it includes all of Abraham's offspring and those who are with them and even invites

those further yet.  He is really creating them as a people. 

In fact, this reordering of the chaos in their community is nothing less than a sign of the new creation of God. As God breathes on and creates a new people - and speaking of God breathing - today's Pentecost Sunday where churches around the world remotely are celebrating the birthday of the church as God's Spirit is poured out on the people of God in a fresh way. Our birth is built on this foundational story of God and these foundational stories that you are hearing of God, continually being with his people; of God shaping a people and working with them to shape a new creation and we are a part of that story. 

We continue to be a part of that story of God. Of course, Jesus is a crucial pivot in this story but even his story is rooted in the story of Israel, who of course is rooted in God's ancient story. Coming back to the commands, coming back to these ten words, we need the context to properly understand and live into these good words given by God. You see, these 10 words, these 10 commandments are not random rules to test Israel's blind faith to another self-absorbed dictator. It's not as if God had some big cosmic dartboard with random commands, 1/2 a million all over it and God just went, alright, I'll take that command, that command and that command. That command looks thrown together and you know in a list of 10, a top 10 list and let's just see how his reel does with this. 

No, no, they begin with a self-revelation of God. He starts out with, here's Who I am, here's what I'm about. I was Yahweh, he gives him his name.  I'm your God - relationship - and I rescued you from Egypt. When there's slavery we have the activity of God. 

Now when you think about the ten commandments or God's rules or commands in general, is that your view? Wow so this is who God is and what God is about, or at least this is how people who have wrestled with God in the past, this is how they viewed God, this is how they understood God. That type of wrestling doesn't separate the commandments from the Creator. It doesn't separate the commands from his character, which is what I want to push against today: that separation, because if we separate God's person from God's Word, then these Ten Commandments, these ten words, aren't nearly as positive. These aren't words of grace and life. Instead, they're going to be words of slavery, just a different kind of slavery.

So, as we together reflect on the Ten Commandments today, I'm going to offer you four images of the ten words and ask you to reflect how you interact with God's commands, and see if one of these images reflects how you live with God's commandments.

1. For some these ten words become a wall separating us from God, when I bite into a story from the New Testament - it's from Luke 10 - and in Luke 10 Jesus is talking with a lawyer, this professional in the law, who stands up to test Jesus. He asks him, what shall I do to gain eternal life, teacher? How should I go about living God's eternal life? Jesus answers a question with a question which good teachers did, “I ask the, so how do you understand the law?” The lawyer answers, “Love the Lord God with everything you've got and love your neighbor as yourself,” and Jesus actually commended the lawyer for his answer. He commends him for seeing at the heart of the ten words is this call to love God. It's a commendation that we might miss because this conversation is leading into the story of the Good Samaritan but don't miss Jesus’ commendation there, because for many, the Ten Commandments are seen more as a random set of rules. Maybe good advice but not at all connected with God's work in their lives. t's because we've missed those foundational words, I am the Lord who rescued you, words of relationship, so instead of loving God, some of us with these Commandments enslave ourselves to a new Pharaoh. Some have thought, I've kept the rules 1 to 10. I've got them all. I'm a good person. It's not just people with those Ten Commandments. It's an orientation toward life that any of us can have.

What are the expectations? Read your Bible every day, alright, I got that, ah, make sure you pray, okay, get that, make sure you witness, alright, got that, make sure you do this and don't do that, okay I've got that. I've kept the rules I made but that misses this foundational connection with God. If our relationship is fundamentally with the rules and not the rescuer, then we miss out on the whole point of this text. Others live by this image but they do it the opposite way. They ignore the rules altogether. They look at them and they're like, all this doesn't apply to me from thousands of years ago and so they react against the rules. But again, the relationship is with the rules and not the rescue for these both. The ten words are a wall. 

2. There's a second image that I see in Scripture. I see an experience and that images for some the words become a ruler measuring and judging others or themselves. Back to Luke 10. Jesus is in this conversation with a lawyer and when he asks the lawyer, “How do you read it?” and the lawyer says love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus offers a commendation for the second part of his answer as well - that the lawyer saw that the ten words are a call to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus commends him for that understanding. How many times have you been in a conversation with someone and they find out you're a

Christian, like Christians who are so unloving and judgmental and hypocritical. Listen, I I'm sure some of that is unfounded, but I tell you, I've met a few like that as well, that that would describe him and honestly, I've been that person. I've been the person who looked at somebody else, held them up against my measuring stick and

Said, well they do pretty well here but in here they're an absolute failure, here not so good either; maybe they get a 50% for this overall, maybe I'll give them barely a passing rate. See, I'm living with that same heart, the heart of measuring others, see how they stack up according to my standard. Watch for it in yourself when we use language of the day they always fall short. They're not doing it right. Those people see it gives us away that

we are doing this measuring stick view of the rules in life. But wait a minute wait, how did that end? Start with this language, I rescued you. I lifted you up. Who's the you there? The you there are the rescued people. It's the people who already acknowledge God as Lord and rescuer. For those still trying to rescue themselves, save themselves, that 10 aren't going to be helpful. It will just be more expectation without more of God that's impossibly heavy. 

Pentecost shows us we need we have to have God's Spirit to live God's life. It's impossible otherwise and so this ruler way of viewing the law places an impossible burden on other people and on ourselves to be the one who decides it's whether people measure up or don't measure up. So, the 10 is a wall which separates. The 10 has a ruler which judges.

3. I've just got one more bad image of price and then we'll turn it around. Some people look at the words, words that are supposed to give life and grace and invite us into this new relationship. For some of us, the words become a tombstone, marking our death. When Jesus finished up this will chat with the lawyer before going into his story of the Good Samaritan, he says to the lawyer, “Do this and you will live.” The ten words here are about a way of life. They’re invitation into life but for those of us who relate to the law without a relationship with the lawgiver, we simply enslave ourselves trying to save ourselves. Let me say that again, those that relate to the law without a relationship with the law giver will enslave themselves trying to save themselves. It's a recipe for death not only for them but for those around them. This is how Jesus described one of the groups of his day called the Pharisees, people who truly wanted Israel to follow God's commands. The problem was they, at least for many of them who interacted with Jesus, they missed out on the connection with God and so this life-giving relationship ended up being a thing of death. Jesus described them as whitewashed tombs, places of death. He said they put mill stones around the necks of their followers, leading others to death, so these words who flow from a God of life were meant to restore instead become objects of death

4. Now to go the other way to simply ignore God's way, his teaching and advice is similarly destructive because we go into a total self-destruct mode by refusing to love God and others. We turn in and live only for ourselves. It’s a catastrophe for all of us. 

But we are hopefully living out the 10 in a way that's rooted in our relationship with the rescuer. When we begin by acknowledging that that we need rescue and when we live in a relationship of gratitude with our rescuer, the ten words have a very different image. They're no longer a wall which separates us, they're no longer a measuring stick to judge others, they're no longer a tombstone of death. Instead these words can be a door, a door of wisdom, a door welcoming us into the character of God and a door that welcomes us to shape our joint life and mission. These words open the door to God. They tell us what is God like. Picture the ten lines this way. Picture them as our life posts, as our life posts to God continuing his description of himself in Exodus 19, the last chapter you talked about last week.

God says ‘I’m like the caring mother eagle, the protection carries you. In the beginning of this chapter God says ‘I'm your rescuer. I bring you into freedom and then the invitation is: continue to listen, continue to read and live these 10 and you'll discover what else on what is God like. As we look through the ten we discover, Oh, God is God alone, there is no other. God is faithful to the Covenant that he's just made, That's great news. God is trustworthy. God is generous. We could go on and on looking at each of these commands and asking ourselves. What is it about God's character that's connected to these commands, and each one opens up new opportunities to appreciate God. So, these words open a door to God, but they open up another door as well. They open up a

fuller image of who we are, because we as humans bear the image of God. So that 10 teach us what am I like. See, the 10 words aren't imposing some random rules on us. They actually expose who we are and what it looks like to live with wisdom, connected with who we were created to be. 

Who am I? Well, I'm created to be a person in covenant with God and other people. I'm created to be a person who has the rest. I'm creating to be in life affirming relationships with those older and younger than me. I'm created to speak and live in a way that encourages the life of another. That's who were meant to be. It opens a door to God. It opens a door to who we are individually but finally and crucially the words open the door to our life together.

What does it look like to live together as a rescued people? The invitation here is to a life of the wisdom, because

the 10 words, they don't cover every single particular detail that we'll ever wrestle with. Israel herself came into so many different situations from the time they heard these 10 words the first time, well right through until Jesus came. I mean, think about it, they heard these words and they were a wandering people, and then they were people coming in to the land that God gave them. They were people who were repenting and coming back and they were people who were taken into foreign lands and then they were people returning from foreign lands and so many other situations. 

In each of these generations, in each of these situations, the people of God have had to wrestle with this question, What does it look like to live faithfully as the people of God? These ten words and the other commands of God offer a framework that help us wrestle with what it means to be the people of God, what it means as God describes us to be a light to those around us as Israel was called to be a light to the nations, to be the church as the new people of God rooted in in this ancient story. 

How can we live together as God's people to extend God's love and life? How do we do that? Well, again, the 10 words help us worshiping God together by refusing idolatry and its many, many forms that it's taken over the centuries and millennia by taking God's honor seriously, by being a community of honesty, by being a people who are life-affirming, covenant-keeping, by being a people who honor one another despite our differences, by being a people who desire the best for others, who are generous to others. See that the 10 words help shape our life together and I think this is our invitation from these 10 words of life - to be a people of wisdom, a people that love fully, not because they're trying to measure up but because they have deeply welcomed God's rescue. They've internalized this rescue of God and they are living with him to welcome others into the same life. 

May God bless you as you live out the 10 words in this way.

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