Being a MAN of God - A Father's Day sermon

BEING A MAN OF GOD

 

On this Father’s Day, I’m going to talk about manhood. I don’t often do this, observe a non-biblical celebration, but this year I will. I want to ask the critical question of our generation: What does it mean to be a real man? 

            This is a tough question in the present context. What defines manhood? How much you can bench? If you can fix your own car or change the oil? Are you into hockey, football, hunting, fishing, axe-throwing? Do you grunt quietly as you accidentally hammer your finger, suck it up and keep on working? Are these the marks of a man? 

            Can a man be sensitive and artistic? Does he need to be over six feet tall and say little? Or can men be unacquainted with the driveshaft of a 4440 something or other?    

In an age of gender confusion, men have to figure out their place in a world where they are made to feel guilty for being male. On the other hand, men have been culturally trained, socially pressured, to behave a certain way that is in fact, toxic. 

Toxic masculinity has been identified by the core tenants of toughness, anti-femininity, and power. Like Red Foreman, men are supposed to be strong and aggressively hardened. Like Al Bundy, men reject any and all feminine traits including emotion, accepting help, or washing the dishes. Like John Dutton, men are worthy only if they have money, power, status, and influence. 

Some of the traits we associate with manhood can be said to be natural or typical of men or boys. When they are used to pressure the freedoms and rights of boys, forced to “dude the right way,” it’s a problem. It’s toxic. 

The Bible does not have a book called “Man” so that you can turn to chapter 3 verse 12 and discover how the prophet defines manhood. Here and there we see snapshots of manhood and we must discern what is biblical manhood. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, however, Paul gives four challenges to the timid Timothy on what it means to be a man of God. In my opinion, this instruction is the most important teaching on manhood. Let’s look at these…

 

1. A Man of God Flees (1 Timothy 6:11a)

 

This first one may surprise you. A man of God knows when to run away. Flee! That may sound cowardly but consider that an experienced warrior knows when to fight and when he is outmatched. Run away!

            Paul says to Timothy, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things,” (11a). What things? If you look back to verses 3-10, you will note that Paul describes the kind of people who don’t live the “Jesus way.” “These things” include conceit, controversy, quarrelling, envy, dissension, slandering, causing friction. The pinnacle of “these things” is the desire to get rich which Paul says is a snare and leads people to destruction. These are the things Paul tells Timothy (and all men) to flee.

            When it comes to sin, the Bible tells us not to dance with it but to run away. Flee from sexual immorality (1 Cor. 6:18). Flee from idolatry (1 Cor. 10:14). Flee from youthful passions (2 Tim. 2:22). Run away! 

            It is possible that we are too comfortable with sin and complacent as to how it will affect us. We think that we can dabble with it and not get sucked in. It’s like tourists who try to take selfies with a lion on an African safari – they are unaware of the potential disaster that a selfie can cause. Instead of running away when we see a prowling lion, we let it come near, walk towards it, oblivious of its reach. 

            Perhaps it is the sin of lust or of pride. Maybe you know what makes you angry and you think you have control of your feelings, but you know you are physically or mentally in a place that triggers you. Why are you there? The battle is in the heart and the mind. Don’t go there. Flee from temptations. 

 

2. A Man of God Pursues (11b) 

 

Paul balances “running away” from the negatives with “running towards” the positives. This is good since we need to occupy the space of our ambition. If we remove the object of our attentions, we need to replace that focus with something that is worth our attention or ambition. He says, “…flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness,” (11b). Paul kind of repeats himself in the second letter to Timothy saying, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart,” (2 Tim. 2:22). 

            If we approach being a man of God only from the negative perspective, we fall into a pattern of “don’ts.” Stop doing this, stop acting like that. Men and boys need a positive vision of what they are striving for. Constant negativity is demoralizing, so we need a new perspective. Instead of “stop hitting your sister,” we say, “Use your hands to help and do good.” It changes the dynamic in the person’s mind from “I’m bad” to “I can be good.” 

            That’s just psychobabble unless you run to God. That’s what Paul is emphasizing in the pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and so on. What is that? That’s Jesus!

            The quest for true manhood drives us to the person of Jesus Christ. We run to Jesus as the perfect example of manhood. We run to the cross of Christ because as a man, I need to be rescued from my sinful self. It is sin in me that takes what is good and distorts it. Ambition is good in the right framework of the gospel. To be strong is a blessing if we acknowledge that our strength comes from the Lord. 

We can be “manly” if our manliness resembles the faithfulness of Christ who went to the cross for us. Love is not wispy and fluffy when you see the MAN, Jesus Christ, giving himself for others on the cross. Never seen Chuck Norris do that. 

The pursuit of these qualities is pursuing Jesus. It’s similar to what Paul says elsewhere using the language “put off” and “put on.” Put off the old self, the selfish “me,” and put on the new “me” recreated to be like Jesus. If I only take off the old clothes, I am left unclothed, so we put on Christ.

 

3. A Man of God Fights (12a)

 

Men of God fight. But not in hockey. One of my criticisms of the EMC cup was the fighting. In most sports, players get hot under the collar – passion to win leads to fighting. So, not that.

            Paul says, “Fight the good fight of the faith,” (12a). The word “fight” means to struggle or strive. Think of the ancient Olympics when wrestling was a main sport. It could also be used in a military sense. The bottom line is that the Christian life is a struggle. 

            This goes against the easy-believism of modern-day evangelicalism. Once you say the sinner’s prayer and get saved, you’re good. Everything should go fine after that. 

            But we read earlier that some people have wandered away from the faith. That means that “the faith” is something specifically precious. It is the teaching of the apostles about Jesus. And we know that it doesn’t naturally come to mind or take priority in our decisions. We have to fight to put the gospel of Jesus front and center of our lives. We have to fight the” self” that wants to sit on the throne of our own lives and let Jesus sit there. It is a constant struggle to let Jesus be Lord. 

            Paul must have loved sports; he used so many references to athletics. He told the Corinthians, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So, I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified,” (1 Cor. 9:24-27). 

            If you have fight in you, fight for the faith. This life is a fight. We fight against temptation and sin. We fight against unbelief and the doubts that plague our minds. We contend with the world and its ungodly teachings. And we fight against the devil. But we do not fight against flesh and blood.

 

4. A Man of God Takes Hold (12b)

 

What does Paul mean with this last imperative? “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses,” (12b). Didn’t Timothy already have eternal life through his faith in Christ? 

            On the one hand, eternal life is our hope through faith in Jesus that though we die, we will live forever with God. Christ earned it for us. He died and rose again to guarantee it. He gave us his Holy Spirit as a deposit. Eternal life is ours now, but we have not yet taken full possession of it. 

            In another sense, eternal life is not a duration but a quality, and that’s what Paul is talking about. Eternal life is not something that only wait for as a future possession, but it is a quality of life we try to live in the here and now. It is a life we are “called to” and which we are to take hold of in the present.

            Eternal life is not simply living forever; it is the kind of life we live. In other words, Jesus has given us the power and potential to live as if the kingdom of God were already fully realized. The invitation is to seize it, to grasp it, to hold on to it, to fight for it. We do not fight with the weapons of the world – to physically make it real or to force the kingdom on people or to legislate it with government policy – but our weapons are righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. These represent the kingdom of God.

            Admittedly, this is not what we see in our culture. We see society’s heroes as men who stand up and by great effort and strength defy evil forces. Paul in this context is in chains. He is in prison. He would face prison again. And trials. And beatings. Eventually death by execution. Paul is a loser in the world’s eyes. The pressure on Timothy then, is to turn away from this faith, to give up his ministry. The cost is so great. It is too dangerous. Christians are like lambs to the slaughter. Nothing heroic in that scene.

            So, Paul says, remember when you were baptized, remember the confession you made in front of everyone? At that moment, you said, “Jesus is worth it. Jesus saves. Jesus forgives.” Hold on to that with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Hang on to eternal life and don’t let it go for anything the world has to offer. Hold on to it!

 

Jordan Peterson boils down “being a man” into two directives: “taking responsibility and living for a purpose.” That’s good…but not quite enough. 

            We shouldn’t be asking what kind of man we should be, but what kind of man God wants us to be. Culture tells us what men should be, and God tells us something quite different. There are two forces at work in culture which makes it even more confusing: one side tells us to apologize for being men, and the other side tells us to “man up” and wear our “big boy pants.” But God takes our faces by the chin and has us look at his Son, Jesus, and says, “This is a man. Be like him.” 

            Here’s the kicker in this sermon: Paul uses a word for “man” in verse 11 that can be translated “person.” So, even though I have been speaking to men about manhood, and to women who have men for husbands, or fathers, or sons, in truth, I am speaking to men and women. You could translate this verse, “But as for you, O person of God…” 

            O godly woman, O godly man, if you love Jesus, flee these things that are sin, pursue Jesus and be like him, fight to keep your faith alive and vibrant, and hold on to the quality of eternal life that is yours today. 

            And may you be covered by the dust of your Rabbi…

 

                                                AMEN

You Are My Promised Land (Evening Service)

YOU ARE MY PROMISED LAND

 

For several months this year I have been studying the book of Exodus. And in this study, I have found powerful themes that point to Jesus. It has been a revelation to me to see the grace of God in this OT book. 

            As I was listening to Christian radio, a song was played that suddenly resonated with me and with what I had read in Exodus. The song was called “My Promised Land” by Josiah Queen. Remarkably, it reflected the heart of Moses in Exodus 33 when he met with God. The song begins like this:

You had me standing on a mountain

Walking through barren lands

You took my hand and You said

You can have this world

But I won't go with You

Oh, I won't go with You

But I ran out of places

And feelings I was chasing

All I have is You and You alone

And I said, hold on, wait a minute

I don't want what You ain't in

And I don't wanna go

Unless I'm going there with You

It's You there, rain or shining

You're the sun on my horizon

You are my everything

My Promised Land is You

            The context of Exodus 33 follows the dreadful “golden calf” incident at the base of Mount Sinai. You remember the people were camped out down there while Moses was up on the mountain with God. With all that God had done for Israel, their deliverance from Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, and so on, the people respond by making an idol. 

            Yahweh says to Moses that he and the people can go and take the land that was promised, but God isn’t going with them. If he did, Yahweh says he would kill them all. God is fed up with the rebellion of this people. He would ditch them to start over with Moses. The children of Israel can have all that was promised, but they don’t seem to want Yahweh, so Yahweh won’t go with them. 

            Moses speaks for the people, he responds on their behalf, he pleads for them. He begs God to reconsider. This is a prayer we need to pray. Moses asks three things of God, requests that reflect our own deepest need. 

 

First: “I want to know you” (Ex. 33:12-14)

 

The key verse in this first request is, “If I have found favor in your sight, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you,” (13). 

            Moses tells God, “You made me the leader of these people, but you got to help me.” He asks who God is sending with him. An angel? Cool! But God says he won’t go with these “stiff necked” people, or he may consume them. Moses doesn’t want an angel, he wants God. He says, “I want to know you.” 

            Moses already had a friendship with God, amazing experiences with God, the burning bush, face-to-face talks, intimate encounters. He’s found favor with God – something that is repeated in this text. God knows Moses like a friend. But Moses isn’t satisfied with just being known, he wants to know God.

            This is not reading your Bible through in a year knowledge. This is not knowing about God. Moses is talking about knowing God in a personal way. James Packer, who wrote Knowing God, said, “A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great of knowledge about him.” 

            Think of someone you have always wanted to meet. Maybe you follow them on twitter (X), Instagram, or read their books or watched their movies. You have admired them from afar. But do you know them? Really know them?

            Packer talks about God, the Almighty Creator, the Lord of hosts, the great God before whom all the nations are a drop in the bucket. And he comes to you and begins to talk to you through the words of the Bible and through the Holy Spirit. You come to realize that God is opening his heart to you in this way, making friends with you. That’s staggering to consider, isn’t it? 

            Moses prays what we should pray for, that God would reveal more of himself to us.

 

Second: “I want you to be with us” (Ex. 33:15-17)

 

Moses is tenacious. He doesn’t give up. God says “okay” to his request to know God more. But Moses amps up his request with another. Moses says, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here,” (15).

            Here’s where Moses challenges God on what he said about not going with the people. Moses responds that the only thing that makes this people special is that God is with them. And how will it look to the other nations if God abandons the people he chose. There is no point in leaving Mount Sinai and heading to the Promised Land if God stays behind. God has to go with them. 

            They can have everything they want in this life, but God will not go with them. I think this is a test. I’m pretty sure it is. And Moses advocates for the people for God to go with them. It’s not like God reluctantly goes with Israel. He loves them. But do they love God? Do they want Yahweh as their only God?        

            Can you imagine God saying you can have anything you want in this life but not his presence. All your dreams could come true but not have God.

            John Piper said, “The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?” 

            Heaven without Jesus? Absolutely not. And Moses plainly lays this out with God: God, if you’re not going there, I don’t want to be there either. 

 

Third: “I want to see you” (Ex. 33:18-23)

 

Moses pushes further with his third request, “Now show me your glory,” (18). The literal wording is, “Cause me to see your glory.” It’s still sounds demanding. But what does it even mean? 

            Have you ever prayed that God would show you his glory? It sounds audacious. Would we know it to see it? 

            John Piper described seeing God’s glory as seeing “the infinite beauty and greatness of God’s manifold perfections.” How does God reveal this to Moses?

            Yahweh replies to Moses, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,” (19). But God would not show his face to Moses. 

            What we get out of this revelation is the character of God. I have heard many people say that God is angry in the OT. But here we see in this text the grace and mercy of God towards a people who are persistently sinful. He keeps giving them chances to do better. 

            As human beings, we have an innate desire to see the glory of God. It’s in us as a natural desire. Sharon and I started watching the 20^th season of AGT and it is amazing to see not only the singers and illusionists, but also the brilliant things people can do with their bodies. We love to be in awe of such feats. And how many of us yelled when Perfetti scored the winning goal in the Blues-Jets series? My neighbor said she heard yelling all over town. These are snippets of glory. Seeing the Grand Canyon, watching the canola grow – these are snapshots of glory. But it points us to the greater glory that we long for in God. Only God’s glory will truly satisfy our hearts’ longing. 

            The Apostle Paul described this event with Moses and Yahweh as a limited experience. Moses could see God’s glory, but Moses had to veil his face for the people. Now that Christ has come, Paul says that with unveiled faces we can see the glory of God more fully than ever. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” (2 Cor. 4:6).

            And that’s why heaven without Jesus is heaven without glory. Truly, it’s not even heaven at all. 

 

A few weeks ago, Michael preached about Abraham seeking a blessing from God. Abraham said in Genesis 15:1-6 when God reveals himself to him, “What will you give me?” It was a “duh” moment. Michael explained that God was giving himself to Abraham. What more did he need? 

            As Josiah Queen crooned, “You are my promised land.” God is all I need. 

            I invite you this week to pray the bold and audacious prayer of Moses asking these three things of Yahweh:

            I want to know you…

            I want you to be with us…

            I want to see your glory…

We could have everything this world has to offer. The joys, pleasures, experiences, prosperity and all kinds of good things…But if God isn’t in it, can we say, “Then I don’t want it”? Because he is what we need most.

                                    

                                                            AMEN?

Being Good Stewards of our Relationships (Series: Living Generously - Embracing God's Gifts)

BEING GOOD STEWARDS OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS

 

When we talk about stewardship in the Christian life, we mean taking responsibility for the things the Lord has entrusted to us. Our first thought about stewardship is money. But relationships are a gift from God as well. 

            In our text today, Colossians 3:12-14, Paul is speaking to those of us who have put on the new “self” made in the likeness of Christ. What Paul wants is for Jesus followers to show that we understand Jesus and display him in our lives. Where do we show this? In our relationships. 

            What stands out in this text – actually, it’s glaring – is the key to successful human relationships: love and forgiveness. And I think that may be the hardest part. 

            I have a confession to make. I’ve been pretty poor at the forgiveness part. I have struggled with an old wound. In smaller ways, I have wrestled with forgiveness for those who offend, wound, or slight me. 

            A little more than five years ago, a friend I’ve known for almost 40 years, called me and left an enduring wound. At one time, I called him my “best friend.” We were best men at each other’s weddings. On this occasion, I was at a low point, out of work, and a seminary course I had designed to teach was cancelled. This fellow called in response and mocked my pain, saying “Poor Darryl, blow after blow, nothing’s going right for you.” Then he abruptly hung up after a quick dismissal. I was stunned. I knew then that a great chasm existed between us. 

            Paul wrote, “…forgive one another…Forgive as the Lord forgave you…” 

            What does that look like? Maybe you have imagined a response like mine. I imagined that if I saw him at a concert or some other event, I would act like I didn’t know him, keep my eyes down, find other people to talk to. I imagined him acting like nothing was wrong, even hugging me, but my arms would hang limp. 

            If you have been offended or wounded by someone you loved, what do you do? Can you trust them again? Do you have to? Do you act like nothing happened? Do you ignore your pain and suck it up?            

            Think of the way Jesus responds to us. We wound him. We offend him. Imagine how he would approach you at the end of a concert. He sees you in the lobby and he comes right up to you, warm smile and kind words. Jesus embraces you. But I hurt him! I betrayed our friendship by my words or by my actions. He knows it. I know it. But grace covers him like a radiant light. Maybe that response opens up a conversation. Maybe our hearts spill out for each other. 

            That’s not how I respond. But my way is that old adage that says unforgiveness is like taking poison and expecting the other guy to die. Unforgiveness kills you, not the other guy. 

            I read about a stewardship consultant who went to a Christian medical conference. Most of the sessions were over his head, so he went to one led by a Christian psychiatrist because he thought he could understand him. One thing stood out so profoundly, he never forgot it. The psychiatrist said, “Ninety percent or more of all counseling could be eliminated entirely if people would learn to forgive.” 

            He went on to share example after example of how failure to forgive did serious emotional and physical damage to those who refused to forgive. We destroy ourselves when we refuse to extend forgiveness. 

            But failing to forgive others also damages our relationship with God. John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen,” (1 John 4:20). I saw a video last Saturday of my friend giving an interview and was repulsed by his “aw shucks, I’m just a farm boy,” routine. And I was so angry I felt hatred for him. I repented of that feeling. But you know, we cannot tolerate hatred in our hearts. It has no place in the life of a person who says they love God.

            This is why Paul writes to the Colossians. He knew that relationships are messy. We are such unique creatures that any two of us will find differences between us. Politics, religion, money…we can disagree over anything. And Paul fights for unity in the midst of diversity. His argument goes like this:

 

Therefore, as God’s chosen people… (12a)

Where have we heard that expression before? It’s a pretty special label in fact. In the OT, God used this expression for the children of Israel. Out of all the nations of the earth, God had chosen Israel to be his own special people (Deut. 7:6-11). 

            God chose this people to be different than the rest of the nations. What would make them different was their way of living, their way of behaving with each other, their way of doing community. The foundation of this “difference” was the law of God. By their obedience to the law, the people would be different. 

            So, it’s no mistake that Paul uses this term now of Christians. But he doesn’t speak of the law as the foundation of their behavior, but of clothing themselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Does that sound familiar? What does that sound like? The fruit of the Spirit. The law of Moses always pointed to these qualities, but it was so hard to follow through. But then the Spirit of Christ came to fill us with those qualities. 

            As God’s special people, we need to allow the Spirit to grow these qualities in us. How do we do that? 

            Paul gives four commands or “musts” for managing Christian relationships:

 

Four Important “Musts” for Christlike Relationships 

1)    Clothe yourselves (12b) – we are to wear compassion, kindness, etc. like a sports jersey. To show kindness to another member of the church tells people what team we play for.

2)    Bear with each other (13a) – I think the word used here is “forbearance.” You could say “tolerate,” but to tolerate someone is like “rolling your eyes” when they say something dumb. When a story is told for the fifth time, smile and thank God for this person. 

3)    Forgive one another (13b) – I’m coming back to this one because it is the most crucial to stewardship of relationships and because it is the hardest. Think about how Jesus teaches us to pray: “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” (Matt. 6:12). Do you hear what we are asking in this prayer? We are not just asking God to forgive us our sins, we are asking him to forgive us in the same proportion that we forgive others. In other words, “use the same standard of forgiveness on me that I use on others.” Then Jesus concludes his teaching on prayer saying if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive you. Whoa! There is no wiggle room on forgiveness. 

4)    Put on love (14) – the power to forgive is rooted in love. God’s love is the foundation for our loving others. Listen to this: There is no hurt that we have experienced in life that exceeds the hurt we have inflicted on Jesus. And yet he loves us and forgives us every day. He is asking us to do the same thing in our relationships: to love and forgive one another just as Christ loves and forgives us. 

 

Elizabeth Moyer of the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics offers these points to help steward love in your relationships:

1. Invest – Get to know people you do life with. Family, friends, neighbors, coworkers – if you know people and love them, it becomes harder to hold offenses or wounds. If you know them, you know they didn’t mean to hurt you.

2. Know yourself – You cannot give what you do not have. Loving others means knowing what you have to give. People demand things of us sometimes that we are not gifted in and it makes us feel inadequate. What you do have to give, give extravagantly.

3. Pursue Jesus to Pursue others – Follow the example of Christ. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. He loved the least loveable people. Jesus loved when it was hard or convenient or unpopular. 

4. Pray – pray for your relationships. Pray about the tough ones. Pray for grace to love those who wound you. Pray for power to forgive rather than give the cold shoulder. 

 

Relationships are a gift. We were created in the image of God and God is very relational. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are so in tune they are three persons in one God. And God calls us to join the three-in-one in their dance. 

                        

                                                            AMEN

King Jesus: High and Lifted Up (An Ascension Day Sermon)

KING JESUS: HIGH AND LIFTED UP

 

This Tuesday, May 27, 2025, King Charles III will open the Canadian Parliament with a throne speech. He will ascend the throne of Canada and say something that will, in effect, affirm the sovereignty of Canada as a dominion in its own right. Our prime minister deliberately orchestrated this speech as a sign to the US president that we are not going to be the 51^ststate of anything. We are Canada! True North!

            This Thursday, May 29, 2025, the global Church of Christ will celebrate the Day of Ascension. This is the 40^thday after Jesus’ resurrection when he ascended into heaven to take his place at the right hand of the Father. It was his coronation day. It was the day he sat down to rule his kingdom. The ascension of Jesus to his throne in heaven makes a statement too. Jesus began his ministry saying, “the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel.” With his ascension, the kingdom of God is realized.

            But with Jesus ascending into heaven, we may feel as far removed from King Jesus as Canada is from King Charles. Back in the 80s when Queen Elizabeth came to North America, it cost 20 million dollars to bring her here. That is to say, it was a huge cost, a great effort, a big deal. It begs the same question the disciples must have asked, “What is the benefit of having a king in heaven when we need him here?” In other words, how does the ascension of Jesus help us? Why does it matter to us here in the tiny village of Rosenort?

            To answer this, let’s look at Acts 1:1-11. Here, Luke begins this history of the church with Christ’s final conversation with the apostles. In verse 3 we read that Jesus spent 40 days following his resurrection demonstrating that he was alive and talking about the kingdom of God. Then he makes this promise: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” (4-5). 

1. The True Nature of the Kingdom (6-8)

 

What question would you ask Jesus before he leaves? Would you ask about the Holy Spirit and how he will work in you?

            The apostles have something different on their minds. They surround Jesus and ask a very human and a very Jewish question. “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (6). Wrong question. There are three assumptions in this question that completely miss out on what the kingship of Jesus means. 

            First, “at this time” reveals their expectation of an immediate realization of Christ’s kingdom. Like “poof,” the next day, there’s the kingdom.

            Second, the word “restore” carries the expectation of a renewal of Israel as a political and territorial nation. It is the ancient hope of Jews that they will once again rise up as a nation of prominence among other nations.

            And third, they expected that this kingdom would be ethnically Jewish. In short, they expected that the kingdom of God would be immediate, physical, and Jewish.

            Jesus answers this question first that it’s “nunya” as in “it’s nunya bizness.” That’s his answer to the “when” part of the question. His answer reveals the true nature of the kingdom of God, however. He says the Father will set the times for its fulfillment, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” (8). The timing for seeing the kingdom become reality is in God’s hands.

            What they will receive is power to be Christ’s witnesses. In this, Jesus reveals that the kingdom will be spiritual in character. It’s not about seizing Gaza; it’s not about territory; the kingdom of God is about transforming hearts. And you need the Holy Spirit to do that. 

            The kingdom of God is not confined to one race either. It is going to move out from Jerusalem into Judea, then Samaria (to those old enemies of the Jews), and to the ends of the earth (to all kinds of non-Jews). Do you know, I heard this week, that there are people in Rosenort who resent the fact that non-Mennonites are moving into our community? We have the world coming to us, to know Christ in our midst, and we have people worried about ruining our community. If we don’t go and share Jesus out there, God will bring people to us. 

            But what we see of the kingdom in Jesus words is the opposite of what the disciples thought it was. They thought it was immediate, physical, and Jewish. Jesus responds that it is actually gradual (starting in Jerusalem and spreading out in time and space), spiritual (transforming hearts and lives with the values of the kingdom), and international (Jews and Gentiles). 

            The promise of presence and power are only possible if Jesus ascends to the Father. In fact, Jesus becomes more present to us only if he ascends to heaven. While he was with the disciples, he was confined to one place at a time. Being fully human, he couldn’t be everywhere. But with this ascension, he opens the door to the all-present Holy Spirit who empowers us to be witnesses of his kingdom.

            As Jesus promised, we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. The word baptize is a very “wet” word. If a ship sinks, we could correctly say that it is baptized. If you boil cucumbers and submerge them in brine, you could truthfully say they are baptized. If you hit the target on a dunk tank and plunge me into the murky water below, you have baptized me. For that word means to drench, soak, immerse and Jesus says that it is with the strength and wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit that we have been drenched, soaked, and immersed. 

            Jesus said, “Wait for him.” Wait for the Holy Spirit. I’m not always good at waiting. I’m impatient when something good is coming. I want it now, like the disciples wanting the kingdom immediately. As churches we rush ahead with our plans. Jesus says, wait for the Spirit. Wait for God’s timing. Wait for the Spirit’s timing. 

2. The Mission of the King’s People (9-11)

 

Jesus ascends to heaven after saying these things. Visibly, the disciples see Jesus lifted up. This was necessary for them to see. In the ancient way of understanding heaven and earth, heaven was “up.” 

            During the 40 days Jesus spent with the disciples, he appeared, disappeared, and reappeared. Now, Jesus needed them to know his departure was final and that they should wait for the Holy Spirit. And when he came, they should get on with the mission. 

            Five times in verses 9-11 we read that Jesus was taken up into the sky. It must have been a sight. If you enjoy watching planes take off at the airport, you get a sense of how mesmerizing it can be. But then two men we assume to be angels break into their wonderment, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven,” (11).

            What are you looking at? Some Christians are obsessed with End Times prophecy, how the world will end, how the politics of our day indicate a coming apocalypse. I will say this cautiously: That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not the main thing. Jesus is the main thing. Telling people about the life-changing, amazing, God-forgives-us-of-our sins, good news of Christ is the main thing. Eschatology is a third level priority (it’s not even a second-place priority). It’s a “nunya.”

            Luke ended his gospel account with these words from Jesus, “…and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations…” (24:47). And following the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts, Peter preaches to the crowds, and they respond with “what do we do now?” And he says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” (2:38).

            What’s our mission? That’s our mission. We are so scared of that word “repentance,” I don’t think we mention it much. I know I am guilty of this omission. We talk easily about the forgiveness of God because that it an easy sell to our friends and neighbors. But the Holy Spirit empowers us to say, “Hey folks, if you believe in Jesus, change the direction of your life and follow Jesus.” That’s the mission – to help people go the right way in life. 

            When my wife and I were in Europe last June, our tour leader tried to lead us through some construction barricades, places we weren’t supposed to go. It was actually dangerous what he was doing. And a citizen of Zurich started swearing at us and telling us “Lousy tourists” to grab a brain or go home. Use the underpass knuckleheads (my paraphrase). Our leader repented of his “wrong ways” and took us the right way.

            Jesus has shown us the way. Jesus has given us power and authority through his ascension to help people find the way. That’s the mission of the kingdom: To preach repentance that leads to forgiveness.

            

Do you see it in this passage? Did you notice the disciples’ errors? Both times they had faulty vision.

            First, they were too earthy, too political in their thinking about the kingdom. The second time, they were too heavenly minded, too pietistic, staring into the sky. 

            The question the ascension of Jesus asks us this: What are you looking at? What are you focusing the eyes of your faith on? 

            The follow-up question is this: What are you doing? We have a mission to tell people about the kingdom of God, to bear witness to the reign and rule of Christ. 

            There is an ancient legend about Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

He is met by the angel Gabriel who asks him, "Now that your work is finished, what plans have you made to ensure that the truth that you brought to earth will spread throughout the world?"

Jesus answered, "I have called some fishermen and tax-collectors to walk along with me as I did my Father’s will."

"          Yes, I know about them," said Gabriel, "but what other plans have you made? "

Jesus replied, "I taught Peter, James and John about the kingdom of God; I taught Thomas about faith; and all of them were with me as I healed and preached to the multitudes."

Gabriel replied. "But you know how unreliable that lot was. Surely you must have other plans to make sure your work was not in vain."

Jesus quietly replied to Gabriel "I have no other plans. I am depending on them!! "

 

                                                            AMEN

Does This Earth Matter? (Series: Living Generously - Embracing God's Gifts)

DOES THIS EARTH MATTER?

 

“The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it…” (Ps. 24:1).

            Compare this statement with the common belief of some Christians who respond to “creation care” with “But it’s all going to burn up anyways.” We read in the Bible of the apocalypse and how the elements will pass away with a roar and wonder if this earth matters.

            If we are honest, our eyes roll back into our heads when we hear environmentalists talk about saving the earth. I confess too that the talk of “global warming” and Greta Thunberg ranting about how we have destroyed her future makes me tired. Our world is consumed with the earth to the degree that it seems like idolatry, worshiping the earth, and that alone causes Christians to reject talk of creation care.

            But the earth is the LORD’s…What does the Bible say our attitude ought to be with respect to the earth? 

            A native leader by the name of Chief Seattle spoke to US officials in 1854 saying, “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. People did not weave the earth; they are merely strands in it. The earth does not belong to mankind; mankind belongs to the earth. Whatever they do to the web of life they do to themselves. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. The earth is precious to the creator and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.” 

            In the speech, Seattle not only talked about fouling God’s creation, but also about how the connected are the land, the people, and God. This sounds very close to the OT teaching on God and the gift of the land to God’s people. 

            Time, talents, and money are given to us as a trust by God to care for, use, invest, and grow. The earth is also a gift to us and the Bible teaches us what it means to God.

 

1. Humanity’s Role in Creation (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15)

 

God’s creation is beautiful. As Chief Seattle observed, it is intricately woven with the threads of the natural world, human beings, and all living things. God created it all, the whole world and everything in it. And he entrusted this amazing creation to humans. 

            This interwovenness is seen in Genesis. First God creates the basic elements of life, fills the land, sea, and skies with creatures. Then God creates the pinnacle of creation - humankind:

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground,'" 

(Genesis 1:26-28).

 I say “pinnacle” with humility because humankind is given the ability to think, reason, and be responsible. 

            This text shapes and charges us with our interpretation of stewardship. It also begs a lot of questions like, “What does it mean to be created in God’s likeness?” I believe that stewardship and being created in God’s likeness are very closely related.

            What does it mean to be made in God’s image? An image may make you think of a statue. Kings and great leaders would set up statues around their kingdoms and territories to remind their subjects who is in power. An image is a physical representation of the king. We are the image of God on earth. Part of what offends God when Israel makes a golden calf or other image is that it replaces the image God has already set up: you and me. If we are the image of God on earth, living reminders of the Creator who is the King of the universe, what does that say about our role in creation? It means that we have been given the responsibility of representing God in the midst of God’s creation. 

            As stewards we have been given dominion over the earth. The words “rule” and “subdue” are used in our text to speak of this dominion. It means to “tread down” but that’s misleading. It doesn’t mean to exploit or destroy, it means to exercise care and responsibility for God’s domain, specifically to care for the poor and marginalized. That’s the role Adam is given in Genesis 2:15, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Stewardship is at the heart of this command. As God’s image bearers they were to reflect the heart of a benevolent God to the world in a caring and wise way.

            Caring for the environment is important. But the motivation for creation care is found in worshiping the Creator. We care for God’s creation precisely because it is God’s creation. 

 

2. The Result of Sin on Creation (Romans 8:18-22)

 

The world is a messy place. Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and rising sea levels threaten everything we have built. Not to mention forest fires. For the most part, we are fortunate in Manitoba to experience only one or two of those disasters. 

            I am not wise enough to correlate the cause-effect of human abuse of creation and the consequent disasters. But I do know biblically that human sin is the reason for our unpredictable world. Adam and Eve sinned. We continue to sin. Greed and exploitation of earth’s resources bring many troubles. And the earth suffers.

            The Apostle Paul described the effects of sin on creation and how creation responds in Roman 8 (see slide). Note that “creation” appears four times in this text and speaks to a future hope:

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Why? Paul talked about our present sufferings, how we struggle with sin, with the pain of life in a cursed world, with the people rejecting our faith in Christ. And he says this isn’t worth comparing with the glory to come when Jesus returns. But even creation waits for the children of God to be revealed. The mountains, streams, fields, bunnies, lions – everything in creation – is waiting for us to be glorified when Jesus comes, because then creation will be cared for properly.

For the creation was subjected to frustration…vanity is another word translated here sometimes. Perhaps Paul was thinking of Genesis 3:17-19 where God says to Adam that because he listened to his wife, thorns and thistles infest the ground. Perhaps it was Adam’s vanity in thinking he could be like God. “Frustration” could also mean “ineffectiveness” in that creation is not doing what it’s supposed to do because humans aren’t doing their part. Humans are the chief actors in the drama of God’s praise and if we fail to contribute our part, creation as a whole suffers.

The hope of creation is that it will be set free from its bondage to decay. Sin has done this. And Paul’s implication is that as a creation of God, the earth has been robbed of its divinely appointed right to be treated with respect. It is God’s after all. As Christians we focus so much on our salvation from sin and our “next life” in eternity we scarcely consider this aspect. Jesus is going to free us from sin surely, but also all of creation from its slow death at the hands of humanity.

The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. There is hope. Perhaps the hurricanes and tremors are an indication that the baby is kicking and about to be born. Though the earth is groaning and suffering, there is a promise of new birth. When we who trust in Jesus are finally redeemed, the earth will experience redemption also. 

 

3. The Restoration Includes Creation (Colossians 1:15-20)

 

So, does “matter” matter? Too often in our Christianity, we have been suspicious of environmentalism. It seems idolatrous. It seems to elevate the trees and animals above humankind. One of them said he would rather kill a man than harm a woodland creature. 

            But Christianity goes too far the other way at times. There is a story of a Puritan walking along the road with a friend who remarked, “There’s a lovely flower.” And the Puritan answered, “I have learned to call nothing lovely in this lost and sinful world.” That isn’t just unchristian, it’s heresy.

            At the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, there were these intellectuals who wanted to turn Christianity into a philosophy. They believed that matter was completely evil and that only things of the spirit were good. That meant that creation was evil and nothing physical was good. Even Jesus, if he was the Son of God, could not have been a physical person because matter is evil. Jesus must have been a spirit. 

            To answer this, Paul wrote, “He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him,” (15-17).

            There’s that word “image” again. Jesus is the perfect representation of what God is like. He perfectly represents God to us in a form that we can see and know and understand. Where we failed to rule over creation, Jesus succeeds because he not only obeys the Father’s intention for creation, but he is also the one who created all things.

            Paul says “by him and for him” which means Jesus was the agent through which God created (John 1:3). And all things were created for him. Creation belongs to Jesus. We could say that humanity lost creation to Satan when we sinned, and that Christ took it back through the cross. But we also have to say that it always belonged to Jesus.

            If creation is Christ’s and all things were created for him and his purposes, then we have to conclude one thing: “matter” matters and when Christ returns, he will restore creation to the Paradise it was meant to be before sin entered the world.

            The NLT puts it simply in Ephesians 1:9-10, “God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth,” (1:9-10). 

 

What does a biblical teaching on the stewardship of creation mean for us as Christians in a practical sense?

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle 

            But I would add another “re” word: respect. As in we ought to respect the Creator and his creation as gifts given for his glory. Conservation is God’s idea. Environmental care is God’s idea. Ecological justice is God’s idea. They were his intention when he first said, “Let there be light.” 

            The difference between the follower of Jesus and the environmentalist is motivation. The environmentalist who wants to save the planet has everything to lose if the planet is destroyed. Their hope and future is a green earth for the sake of a green earth. And I have seen documents that propose eradicating human presence to do it. Abortion activists are deeply connected to sustainability principles of the earth. 

            For the Christian, our motivation is to glorify God and honor him by protecting, preserving and sustaining his creation. It is like the parable in Luke 12:42-46 where the master returns having left his possessions in the hands of his servants. The master will come and ask what they have done with what he left them. 

            Pope Francis in 2015 made a statement that implied every believer’s responsibility is ecological conservation. He said, “The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’ (Romans 8:22).” 

            God has left us with a charge to look after his Son’s creation until he comes to claim it for himself. How is God calling us to take part in this?

                                                            AMEN