Sent: Being the Church in a Confusing World (Colossians 4:2-6)

Series: Created and Called: God's Design for Life Together #6

 

Do you remember the thick fog back in February? I was driving home from the college on a Monday afternoon when I ran into that wall of fog. Just outside of Steinbach, you could tell it was hazy, but not bad. People were driving slowly, and I thought “Come on, it’s just a bit patchy. Let’s go.” But outside of Mitchell the fog grew thick. I couldn’t see the usual landmarks. At one point, I didn’t know where I was. Had I reached the Kleefeld turnoff yet? How slow were the cars in front of me? And to top it off, the highway got a little slick. 

            What makes fog a little frightening is not just the fact that you cannot see. It is that you can no longer trust your sense of direction.

            Spiritually and morally, people today are living in a fog. Moral absolutes are not so absolute anymore. The truth we all believed is questioned. What is truth? What does it mean to be human? What is gender? Who am I? 

            Our world exists in a fog of confusion. And into that confusion, God has sent his church to provide direction. 

            We know the way. We know what is right because we have God’s Word. We know God’s design for humanity, for men and women, and for the body. We know why we are here. We know the truth. What we sometimes lack is the grace that carries the truth.

            Being right can come off as arrogant. We can easily be mad at the fog and condemn its confusion. It is very tempting to become frustrated with those who are stumbling around in the fog and the blind leading the blind. But God has not called us to scream at the fog. God has not called us to avoid those lost in the fog. He has called us to bear witness to Jesus Christ who came to us full of grace and truth. 

            In a short little passage in the letter to the Colossians (4:2-6), Paul advocates for an approach we should have towards people living in the fog. It calls for prayer. It calls for wisdom. And it shapes how we speak.

1. Praying for an Opportunity to be a Witness (4:2-4)

 

Paul is in prison when he writes this letter to the Colossian church. He has been in prison a few times. Under house arrest. Chained to guards. Paul was often “hard pressed” and in difficult situations. 

            He is writing to a church that has its difficulties too. They have had to contend with strange beliefs about angels in their church. The church existed amid rampant immorality and pressures to conform to the status quo of their society. They were cornered and boxed in by social pressures.

            Do you know what Paul tells them to do? Pray! But not for deliverance from this moral decay. Paul tells them to pray for an opportunity. He says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving,” (2). 

            There are three parts to this prayer: persistence – watching the world around you – thankfulness to God that he is working in all realms. Paul’s telling the church, “You live in a spiritually dangerous culture that regularly shipwrecks souls.” There are philosophies and fads and logic that will sway you to think differently, even to interpret the Bible another way. Paul told the Ephesians to grow in maturity and discern these ideas through the lens of Jesus, “…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes…” (Eph. 4:14).

            Then Paul asks that they pray for him: “At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak,” (3-4). Pray for “open doors.” Paul saw his imprisonment as an opportunity. Paul saw his chains as a link to the man standing over him. How can I clearly share Jesus with this man from a different race, culture, and philosophy? How can I get him to understand why I am here chained to him? Isn’t that an amazing way to look at it? 

            We can grieve the provincial school board agenda and its curriculum. Our hearts sink when we think that our province was the scene of a multimillion-dollar drug bust. The immorality and low social consciousness of our neighbors should make us weep. Or we can see these crises as an opportunity to share Jesus with others. 

            Amid these social challenges to our Christian faith, pray for an opportunity to share the gospel. Praying this prayer will do two things: One is that we join God in his work of redemption for our world by asking his will to be done. Two, as we pray, we become more aware of the open door the Spirit is making for us to bring Jesus into the conversation. God loves to be asked for these things. 

            If we want to make a difference in our world, prayer is essential. It is not wasted time. It is asking God to go before us and make a way to share his vision for life and help Jesus transform people.

 

2. Walking the Example of Truth and Grace (5)

 

One of the greatest areas of confusion today involves identity, gender, sexuality, and the rights of the body. We are being pressured to conform to the way the majority thinks and to abandon our biblical convictions regarding these issues. Doesn’t that make you mad? Doesn’t that make you want to fight? Don’t you want to raise your voice?

            Social media has shaped us to respond to opposing views with blunt rebukes. We tap out a few words and hit “send.” That’ll show ‘em. What I fear is that this online outrage is seeping into our face-to-face interactions. Our filters are broken and we say things we should regret. But don’t. Is this the manner that represents the gospel position?

            I think Paul’s response would be the same to us as it was to Colossae, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time,” (5). “Walk” is a favorite expression of Paul’s in speaking about how we live what we believe. It is the challenge to “walk the talk.” And in this way, we are to be wise in how we interact with people who don’t share our faith. What does that mean for us?

            A wise person to me is someone who is careful and not too quick to speak. As James said, “…be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…” (1:19b). Such an attitude speaks to how we behave and how we act with those who are outside the church (and even those inside). Paul calls us to walk wisely toward outsiders. That means we cannot respond with mockery, arrogance, or hostility. Social media has trained us to score points instead of loving people. But ridicule rarely opens hearts to the gospel. If our tone communicates contempt, people stop hearing what we are saying about Jesus.  

            I have found that people are disarmed when I ask questions about their views and beliefs. I don’t have to agree or affirm their beliefs to affirm them as a person worth getting to know. To show interest in them builds a bridge for further conversation. Few people have ever been argued into believing in Jesus. And it will not be our words as much as the way we live that will attract people to our faith. We have to show them God’s love by loving them. 

            John tells us that Jesus came into the world full of grace and truth (1:17). Grace seems to precede truth, but the two are nevertheless connected and cannot be separated. 

 

3. Speaking the Truth without being a Jerk (6)

 

Paul’s final instructions to the church were not random. The tone of these five verses focuses on the outsider as we pray for opportunities to share Jesus, show them our faith, and now, how we speak to them.

            Paul says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person,” (6). Our conversations should be salty. We know that salt enhances the flavor of popcorn and makes us want more. “Salty speech” in Paul’s day referred to witty and clever conversation. The opposite of droning and lecture. How do we pique the interest of our hearer? How do we make our conversation salty so that they thirst for more? We want to talk about Jesus in a way that makes someone’s mouth water. 

            However, to many in our postmodern world, our beliefs translate to “bigotry” and “hatred.” Moral standards mean “judgmental intolerance.” Everyone agrees that bigotry and intolerance are wrong. But we have lost our shared perception of what qualifies as bigotry or intolerance. How do we share our truth without being a jerk in their eyes?

            Take the example of Jesus. After a long journey, Jesus meets a woman at a well in Samaria (John 4). He neither avoids the truth with her nor does he weaponize it and bash her over the head. He takes this morally confused and socially marginalized person and leads her with grace and clarity to discover truth. Jesus speaks the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). 

            How does he do this?

            Jesus does not avoid this woman (4-7). They are on opposite “sides” politically and morally. But Jesus doesn’t cross over to the other side of the street. He engages her. He doesn’t condemn her. We cannot be afraid of talking to people who have different lifestyles or values.

            Jesus begins with a request for help (7-9). “Give me a drink,” he says. This is bigger than we realize. He is asking an “unclean” woman to serve him. It gives her dignity to be able to help someone. It treats her as someone with value. 

            Jesus encourages conversation (10-15). He speaks to her as someone whose opinion matters. He doesn’t lecture her; he allows her to spar with him over values.  She is not a project for him, but someone to know and relate to.

            Jesus awakens spiritual thirst (10). He speaks about “living water” and uses this imagery to appeal to her deeper needs. He offers to lead her to a more satisfying truth to live by than the one sold to her by society and lifestyle. Jesus doesn’t just expose what’s wrong with her thinking (he does correct her), but he reveals also what she has been searching for. 

            Jesus speaks the truth clearly (16-18). I appreciate the courage with which he confronts her situation. “Go, call your husband…” he says. He doesn’t accuse her of adultery or promiscuity. But he doesn’t shame her either. As much as culture tries to be accepting and tolerant, there is an innate sense of “wrong” even when they try to be neutral. We don’t need to point it out – they know.

            Jesus redirects her toward true worship (20-24). She attempts a diversion by talking about places of worship, as if to change the subject of her sexual confusion. But what’s the real need? It’s about worship. And Jesus redirects her toward what really matters: Who do you worship? What gives you life and satisfaction? People are craving living water. They long to have their thirst quenched – a thirst for identity, a yearning for belonging and for intimacy, a desire for meaning and for peace. Often people are looking for the right things in the wrong places and coming up dry. Beneath so much confusion is often loneliness, disappointment, shame, and thirst.

            Then Jesus reveals himself to her as Savior (25-26). When trust and relationship have been established, Jesus shares the good news with her. If we treat people as projects, we devalue them and they can see through us. Building true relationship with people builds genuine currency to go deeper with them. 

            Jesus knew everything about her…and he stayed. He moved towards her with truth and grace. That’s our model.

 

Our world exists in a fog of confusion. Our church may not clear every fog bank that moves in or resolve cultural confusion in our midst. But we can shine faithfully. 

            We are a lighthouse. A lighthouse does not chase every ship through the storm. It does not scream at the waves. It does not slip into the chaos of the tumult. It simply stands where it has been placed, anchored to the rock, shining faithfully through the darkness.

            That’s the church’s calling in a confused world. We simply keep shining the grace and truth of Jesus.       

 

AMEN

Redeemed: Following Jesus with Our Bodies (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

#5 in the Created and Called Series

 

There are two ways to drive a rented car. 

            The first way is: Very Carefully. Someone told me when you rent a car, before you even get into it, take your phone and record a video as you walk around the vehicle. Look for scrapes and dents that are already there. That way the rental company cannot charge you for damage already done. When you drive the car, especially in a foreign country, be as alert to other drivers as you can. Avoid accidents.

            The second way: Have you seen the movie where these guys do stupid things just to see how it feels? Like shooting themselves with a beanbag gun? One of these geniuses rents a car and drives the snot out of it, hitting everything he can, slamming into curbs, and returning the car in a heap. It’s a rented car; who cares? The idea was to see what the rental company would do when a customer trashed the car.

            Your body is not a disposable rental you can trash before returning it. According to Paul, your body belongs to God. So, it’s like driving a friend’s car. How you treat the car matters all the more. You wouldn’t eat greasy food in your friend’s car; you wouldn’t drive like a maniac; you would be as careful with it as if it were your own, or more so. 

            One of the great deceptions of our generation is that our bodies belong completely to us. “My body, my choice,” is used not only by pregnant women, but by all who desire the freedom to do with their bodies as they wish. But in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul says the exact opposite, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 

            As followers of Jesus, we emphasize that our souls and spirits are saved through his death and resurrection. What we fail to grasp is that Jesus died for our bodies as well. As we look at today’s passage, we will ask, “What does redemption mean for our bodies?” Do our bodies matter? The gospel tells us that we are not rescued from our bodies, but our bodies are redeemed for the glory of God.

1. Your Body Belongs to the Lord (6:12-14)

 

The Corinthians had a popular saying too, “All things are lawful for me.” Or as the NIV 2010 puts it, “I have the right to do anything.” There is a perception among these Christians that salvation through Jesus saved the soul, but that the body was a decaying vehicle for the soul, so it didn’t matter. If the body didn’t matter, then one could do anything they wanted with it. This is how they understood “freedom in Christ.” 

            Paul responded with an acknowledgement of their perspective but added two caveats. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” Yes, you have freedom, but there are consequences to your “freedom.”

            First, some things are doable but are not helpful. And some things are actually harmful. Have you watched these food challenges on Instagram? People pay to sit down to an enormous meal in a timed segment. Can you eat 30 burgers in 30 minutes? You can, but is it good for you? 

            Second, doing whatever you want can lead to addiction. Paul is not talking about substance abuse as much as to the consequences of sexual freedom. What seems like freedom sexually isn’t freedom at all. Men’s Health magazine listed the harmful effects of viewing porn: It’s progressive. It creates unrealistic expectations. It counterfeits intimacy. It wrecks your relationship with your spouse…

            You are free to do most things, but you might be mastered by those things. Anything that “masters you” is essentially a “lord” in your life. 

            The Corinthians’ argument for indulging themselves emphasized natural appetites. They would say, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.” In other words, if I have an appetite for something, it must be God-given. Burgers are meant to be eaten, and I have a desire for burgers. It is as natural as that. If we apply this to sex, like the Corinthians did, you will obey your urges in the same way hunger signals it is time to eat. You eat when you are hungry, and you have sex when you have urges. It is natural, they say. In this way, the Corinthians used this natural appetite theory to justify sleeping with prostitutes. Can you imagine? 

            We can’t. But our culture preaches sexual freedom and indulging the appetites. Our culture treats sexual expression as sacred and restraint as oppressive. To question someone’s attractions and preferences is to question their personhood and dehumanize them (it is said). 

            Paul challenged this thinking on “freedom” saying, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” Why? Because of this: “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.” (14). Just before these verses, Paul talked about who is going to inherit the kingdom of God (9-11) and how we were brought out of that “old life” and transformed. Now, Paul argues, these bodies are not meant for the “old life,” those practices, anymore, because we belong to the Lord. These bodies matter and what we do with these bodies matter. Why? Because God resurrected Jesus’ body from the grave and he will raise our bodies too. He’s not done with these bodies. So, don’t drive these “rentals” into the ground.

 

2. Your Body is One with Christ (15-17)

 

What we do with our physical bodies has spiritual significance. Even and especially sex. 

            Paul uses the expression “do you not know” three times in this text; two of them are in this section. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” This is the first use. We teach that when Christ died on the cross, we were joined with him in his death through baptism. A person may be tempted to take this metaphorically, and I think we all do to an extent. However, Romans 6:3-4 does not allow us to take this merely figuratively. Paul wants us to understand that this is a real spiritual union, not symbolic. We are joined through baptism into his death and life. If one is figurative, so is the other. But our resurrection is not figurative, it is a real thing for which we hope. Therefore, we must take this seriously that we are joined to Christ with our bodies. 

            Paul then takes on the Corinthian view that sex is meaningless since it is only a bodily function. No, Paul says,“Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?” That’s the second use of this expression. This argument for sexual oneness goes back to Genesis 2:24. There, we saw that God’s vision for marriage was that sex united a man and a woman, not only physically, but spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, and mentally. It is the communion of the covenant of marriage. And it reflects the union we now have with Christ, to whom we are joined spirit and body. 

            There are two lies that are taught in this generation and the Corinthian situation. In fact, we can see that nothing has changed. The first lie: Sex is everything. This is the belief that our sexuality is the most important thing about us. We can include gender in this also. Some would say that sexual freedom is the only way to find inner peace and identity. So, remove the constraints and let the people be free to explore. The second lie: Sex is nothing. It seems contradictory when sex is everything and our identity is wrapped up in it. But this lie promotes the idea that sex is a harmless activity; it means nothing. It is an appetite and nothing more. 

            The Truth is that Sex is a gift given for expression in the context of covenant. And if God owns your body through the cross of Christ, your body matters. What you do with it matters. Even sexually. You are not free to do whatever you want with it because he redeemed it. He bought it.

 

3. Your Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit (18-20)

 

Your body matters. Redemption has transformed your body into a sacred space. What does that mean for us?

            It means that our bodies matter to God. Paul cuts no corners and hits the point straight on: “Flee from sexual immorality.” The picture you probably get is of Joseph when he worked for Potiphar in Egypt (Gen. 39). One day when Potiphar was not around, Potiphar’s wife comes on to Joseph. His reaction to this temptation was to run leaving his coat behind. When you are tempted – run!! Leave what you are doing and run. With this imagery, Paul ups the ante on sexual sin over most other sins. This is serious stuff for the Christian. And here’s why.

            Here is the third “do you not know,” “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (19). Can you fathom this? The God of the Universe who called all things into being by the breath of his mouth, who holds all things together by his word, literally lives in you! You are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

            Your body is a sacred space for God. A temple is where God’s presence is found. Formerly, he dwelled in the temple in Jerusalem, but through Christ a new temple was established. A temple is where spiritual acts of worship are performed. Just as this building represents our Christian values, what is done in it ought to reflect who we are as a community of Christ. The same with our bodies; these bodies reflect the one who is worshiped in it. A temple is where holiness is encountered and practiced. It is a place that reminds us to act with care and in keeping with the commandments of God. This is your body. That’s you! 

            God wants your body. Paul invited the Roman Christians to consider this, “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship…” (Rom. 12:1). Did you catch that? Your “bodies” are a living sacrifice. Not just your spirit – your bodies! 

            Let’s not make the error of misapplying this text. It has been used to decry the practice of smoking, overeating, and various other habits that we should be mindful of as stewards of our bodies. But Paul is not focusing on those habits. He was addressing the most critical issue of that time and our own: sex and the body. 

            If we take seriously that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we will value them in many ways. But the most significant challenge of our day is to appreciate God’s purposes for our sexual identity. What we do with our bodies is a form of worship.

 

A preacher once spoke to a youth group with the sole purpose of getting them to see the dangers of sleeping around. He spoke negatively of sex. As an object lesson, he passed around a single rose through the crowd of a thousand teens. Everyone handled and smelled the rose. Can you imagine what shape it was in at the end? This beautiful rose was broken, drooping, and losing petals. 

            The preacher then said, “Now who in the world would want this? Who would want this rose now? Would you be proud of this rose? Is this rose lovely?” The message was brutal. If you have been broken and experienced hurt or failure sexually – and many of us carry deep wounds, regret, or confusion – you would have felt worthless and unworthy.

            The preacher missed something crucial in his presentation. Jesus wants the rose! You may be asking yourself, “Am I a dirty rose?” Jesus has bought you with a price – his shed blood – and you belong to him. We are much more than our failures and hurts. Jesus wants your body, soul, and spirit. He does not despise our bodies since he had one himself.

            

Our bodies are not worthless. The gospel of Jesus does not free us from our bodies; it teaches us how to glorify God in our bodies. These bodies are not disposable shells on their way to eternity. They are redeemed places where the glory of God now dwells.

 

AMEN

            

Broken: How sin Distorts and Grace Restores (Genesis 3:14-24)

#4 in the Created and Called Series

 

Ask anyone today if the world as we know it is broken and they would say “yes.” It doesn’t matter if they are a follower of Christ or not, when a person views the state of our world as it is they would say “something’s not right.” 

            Each of us would agree that there is suffering and injustice in our world. Some suffer more than others. The existence of suffering does not point us away from God but toward him. As CS Lewis observed: 

            “A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing the universe with when I called it unjust?” (Mere Christianity). In other words, how do I know “something’s not right” unless I am aware of what “right” should look like? And I cannot know what is good unless I have some concept of what “good” is. The “straight line” is a good God. Something has gone terribly wrong in a world where cancer, tsunamis, violence, racism, and relationship dysfunction exist. And is this God’s fault?

            

In Genesis we read that God created the world and it was good. By chapter 3, Adam and Eve enter the picture and decide that being independent of God means freedom and they do what they were told not to do. They rejected God’s authority and God must respond. Sin is judged; the world is broken because of humanity’s sin. Everything changes. Creation suffers the curse of sin. Relationships between men and women are filled with conflict. There is separation from God. Sin promised freedom, but what it produced was fracture.

            

Genesis 3 shows us that when sin entered the world, it broke relationships at every level of human existence. In Genesis 3:14-24, we can trace the fallout of sin in three categories. 

 

1. Sin has Broken our Relationship with Creation (14, 17-18)

 

As God confronts the actors in this conspiracy, he informs them of how allowing sin into the world is going to play out. He begins by addressing the serpent. 

            In the Bible, the serpent seems to embody evil. Is it because of this picture in the Bible that we hate snakes? Even the animal kingdom hates snakes. Monkeys freak out when a snake is nearby. Horses will try to trample a snake. Only certain humans will try to make a pet out of a snake. 

            The LORD curses the serpent and says, “on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.” Some imaginative folks think the serpent had legs before the curse. But this is not a statement about legs or the diet of the serpent. Dust here represents humiliation and defeat. What this means is that while the serpent has won this battle, he is doomed to defeat. His schemes to dethrone God will fail.

            I said “schemes” because this garden episode was just the beginning of Satan’s attempts to challenge God. In verse 15 we see the future conflict between the serpent and the woman’s offspring – the verb suggests repeated attacks on both sides to injure the other. This is the story of good and evil. The serpent represents sin, death, and the power of evil, and the curse of this moment promises a long struggle. 

            The results of this curse are felt in all aspects of creation. I believe the animal kingdom knew only fear of humanity after this event. Isaiah’s vision of a return to Eden in the last days shows a wolf and a lamb eating together and a lion eating straw. This is how it was meant to be and will be again. But for now, there is tension between man and beast.

            When God turns to the man, he curses the ground. “…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life, “(17). The toil that is behind the preparation of every meal is a reminder of the fall of humanity and the curse of sin. Farmers battle with weeds and weather to bring food to our tables, all because of the curse. We read in Romans 8:20-22 how creation groans in anticipation of the day when the curse will be lifted and its relationship with humankind is restored:

 

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

 

2. Sin has Broken our Relationship with Each Other (16)

 

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

    in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be for your husband,

    and he shall rule over you.”

 

When God turns to the woman, we see a larger dynamic at work that affects the man as well. In the overall story, God forgives the man and the woman, but sin has its consequences. They’re not cursed like the serpent and the land, but they now live in a world of brokenness expressed in difficulties, pain, and suffering. 

            The first thing we notice is the woman’s suffering, in fact. Childbearing is not going to be easy. The first Hebrew term “pain in childbearing” has more to do with conception, not just birthing. The second term “bring forth children”is about giving birth. So, the whole process, from conception to birth, is affected. And the word for “pain” goes beyond physical into emotional and psychological pain. Anxiety, stress, trauma, fear over the potential loss of a child. This is bad enough.

            But the second consequence of their sin is a disruption in relationship. God says to the woman, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” To love and cherish becomes to desire and dominate. The desire thing is not what we think of where a woman pines for her man. What was meant to be mutual love and partnership now becomes marked by tension, grasping, and domination. 

            In a world that has been turned upside down and broken, love has become difficult. It is easier to use another person to get what you want. This is the epicenter of relationship conflict. Man and woman were made for each other, to help each other to be what God wanted humanity to be like. But sin has broken the harmony and introduced sexism and the battle of genders. We battle now with our own sexuality trying to find satisfaction apart from God’s intention for marriage. Men and women both turn to the passions of our fantasies to get what we want and avoid the hard work of getting it. We are broken people. And broken people have a hard time relating to other broken people.

 

3. Sin has Broken our Relationship with God (22-24)

 

At the crux of this passage is the man and woman’s exile from the Garden of Eden. This is the climax of this drama:

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

One of the surprising elements I discovered was that if the couple hadn’t sinned, they would have expanded the Garden to cover the whole world. But they are exiled from this paradise.

            The Garden of Eden was not their biggest loss. Scholars have tried to figure out where the Garden may have been placed. Yet in all of the OT you never read of anyone trying to rediscover the Garden of Eden. None of the prophets pointed the way to the Tree of Life and said, “Go take it.” That’s not the message and it’s not the loss. But what is? It’s what the Garden represents.

            The Garden of Eden represents the inner sanctuary of God’s temple. If you do a study of how the Jewish temple is designed with the holy of holies, you will discover that the temple reflects creation. His true temple IS creation. If sin had not entered the world, we would find God everywhere and his rule – the perfect order of life – would be experienced as it was meant to be. What we lost was God’s presence. Sin’s curse is separation from God.

            This is the ongoing narrative of humanity. Look at Romans 1 and we see the wrath of God being revealed on humanity. What is the wrath of God? Giving humanity what it wants. Three times in Romans 1 it says man wanted something else, so “God gave them over.” Paul said, 

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (21-23). 

Men and women continue to push God’s presence away and to indulge in lusts and passions and impurity. 

            So then, let me ask you, “Is it God’s fault that there is a disruption in our world?” Is cancer and murder and war and famine the result of an unloving God? Or of a people that have refused to acknowledge God as Lord? We are all broken people:” …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (3:23).

 

4. But God’s Grace Opens the Way to Restoration (15, 21)

 

In the midst of this dark drama, the LORD speaks good news to the man and the woman. That he continues to speak to them is grace. He does not abandon them. 

            First, the LORD makes a promise. He promises a serpent-crushing Savior will come and deal with evil. Notice this: there is no pause. God has an immediate answer for the brokenness of creation. He doesn’t come back in a few years with a solution he worked out – he already knows, he already acts on their behalf. 

            Speaking to the serpent, God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” (15). This is the first Messianic prophecy telling how Jesus will crush Satan and deal with evil. The battle with evil will go on in our time. In Jesus, however, the curse has been dealt with, and he will come again to restore creation to Eden-like perfection. 

            One of the startling effects of Adam and Eve’s sin was the realization that they were naked (3:7). God asks them later who told them they were naked (11). This is the second aspect of this grace. The man and woman tried to clothe themselves with leaves. This is inadequate, so, “the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them,” (21). 

            Their nakedness said more about their condition resulting from sin than from exposure. God’s clothing them is a beautiful illustration of what God would do through Jesus for them and for us. We stand naked before God because of sin and God does this for us:

He gives us a covering for our sin. Standing before God in shame and brokenness is a fearful thought. His light exposes all the imperfections of our lives as if we were naked. And he covers us.

Our covering was inadequate. Fig leaves just don’t work. Good works don’t cover the truth that we have follow our passions and desires, that we love to go our own way. Good works don’t cover our sins.

Only God can provide the covering we need for sin. God takes the initiative and covers the man and the woman. He takes off the fig leaves and gives them animal skins. They did nothing; God does it all. 

The covering God provided required the death of an innocent substitute. For the first time in history, something bled. Something died. The cost of sin was suddenly visible before their eyes. As they watched these animals die so they could be covered, they must have realized just how serious their sin was in God’s eyes. The shedding of blood was necessary to cover their sin. Without the shedding of blood, they remained naked. In this we see the grace of God on these poor broken people.

            The rest of Romans 3:23 reveals this truth: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” 

 

We need to clarify something about brokenness: brokenness is not sinfulness. Brokenness is a result of sinfulness. 

            In this series we have studied our identity as human beings made in the image of God, his design for marriage and sexuality, and God’s vision for family. In each of these realms we have experienced brokenness or dysfunction, that we are not living the way we were meant to live. It would be easy for us to point out the sexual agenda of society and cry “broken.” But we would be ignoring our own symptoms. 

            What is the key issue? Our brokenness or our sin. Clearly the issue is our sin, the problem beneath the problem. We must treat the sickness and not the symptoms of our sickness. When Jesus was confronted with the paralytic whom his friends lowered through the roof he addressed the root of the problem. For the friends it was clearly that their buddy could not walk. For Jesus it was something altogether different. He said to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” (Mark 2:5). Jesus’ priority was this man’s standing before God. Sin! And Jesus dealt with sin by covering us with his blood shed on the cross.

            My niece is a lesbian. Do you know what I pray for her? That she would remember the gospel of Jesus that was planted in her heart when she was a child. When she is reconciled to God through Jesus, Christ will begin restoring what sin has broken.

            Though sin has distorted God’s design for relationship, he invites us back to receive his restoring grace. The story of the gospel is the story of God restoring everything sin has broken. 

 

                                    AMEN

 

Called: God's Vision for the Family (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

#3 in the Created and Called Series 

 

Families are the source of our greatest joys and our greatest frustrations. They are the people who know us best and allow us to be ourselves. Or sometimes they put burdens and expectations on you that weigh you down. They cut you slack and are there for you. And they are the ones who drive you crazy.

            Clearly, the reviews are mixed. The word that became popular a couple of decades ago regarding family is “dysfunctional.” It means that something is not operating normally; in this case, it means that there is an unhealthy family dynamic. A lack of communication and a dollop of misunderstanding make it hard for us to love our families.

            This summer, my brother and sister and our spouses are taking a trip together. We haven’t done this in over 50 years, and I am praying fervently for peace and harmony. My brother and I like to joke about our sister: we each call her “your sister.” Most of the time we are able to laugh together. But then there are the other times. You know what I mean. 

            Every family is shaped by something. The question is “What?” Depending on who you ask we have a love-hate relationship with our families. It would be nice if it was love-love. Is this possible? Can our families be more like God intended them to be? What is God’s vision for families? 

            Deuteronomy 6 is the clearest biblical blueprint for families. God’s vision for the family is a way of life where our love for him shapes every moment and is passed on to the next generation. What does that family look like? Moses gives us four commands for building a healthy family. 

 

1. A Family that Fears the LORD (Deut. 6:1-3)

 

For forty years the people of Israel had been wandering around the desert because they had disobeyed the LORD. On the verge of entering into the Promised Land, the people waited for instructions from God. Here’s the thing: Canaan was a pagan nation with godless people – they oozed dysfunction – and they were not a model for Israel’s families. So, Moses told the Israelites what God expected of them and what he wanted them to teach their children. He was preparing these families to live in a pagan, godless culture – one that was not family-friendly. Sound familiar? Sounds like southern Manitoba.

            If we review the first three verses of Deuteronomy 6, the words that stand out to me are “that you may fear the LORD.” Families are to fear the LORD. But fear does not sound like it belongs in a love relationship. Or that’s what we are told anyways. I think that “fear” is misunderstood in terms of relationship. We may have in mind the kind of fear that a child has when they are abused. That’s not what we are talking about here. There are couple of ways to understand this fear.

            To fear the LORD is to fear what will happen if we reject him. We should fear the judgment. Jesus in Matthew is stronger than Moses on the fear aspect. Matthew, Hebrews, and Revelation warn us about rejecting Christ. Fear God. Let’s put that in perspective: If I flirt with other women and make suggestive overtures to them, I should be afraid of what that will do to my relationship with Sharon. It will destroy something beautiful. If I risk my relationship with God by dancing with the devil, I should fear God’s response. 

            Related to that, to fear God is to make him a priority in life. This is what families are called to do: Make God a priority. God comes before other things. And if other things get in the way of God, they have to go. 

            As a child, I wanted to join a baseball or hockey team. My mother resisted this strongly for two reasons: we didn’t have the money and if practices were on Sunday, church came first. I resented this at first, but when I had my first real job at a restaurant, I was told I had to work on Sunday. In my heart, this felt wrong. The conviction engrained in me by my parents was that worshiping God on Sunday was a priority.

            A family that fears the LORD makes him a priority.

2. A Family that Loves the LORD (4-5)

 

These next verses are called the “Shema” and are very important to the devout Jew. They would recite these words every morning. Late in Jesus’ ministry, a Jewish teacher asked him what the most important commandment was and Jesus responded with these words. Shema is Hebrew for “listen.” 

            “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 

            In a culture of many “gods” – things that demand our attention – we are reminded by the Shema that there is only one God and he is unique. He alone is God. But what does “loving God” mean? How do we do that? 

            Very simply, what you love you give yourself to. When you love God, you give yourself to him, you obey him, you trust him. Obedience is a natural expression of love. Jesus explained to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” (John 14:15). “Obey” used to be in our wedding vows, but modern sensibilities didn’t like that. To obey is like submitting and that’s what we are called to do in a love-relationship – submit or obey one another. To love God is take his commands to heart as instructions for our good. We do this willingly because he first loved us (1 John 4:10). 

We are to love him completely. This is what we get from “all” in reference to heart, soul, might. Do we do this? What does it look like? What would you do? What would you start? What would you stop? How would we know when we are really loving God? If I get up at five and read my Bible for an hour and pray for another hour; if I fast for two days? 

Moses was not asking for anything heroic, but in the “ordinary” and daily activities he said, “Don’t forget about God!” Reading the Bible is good. Praying is good. Mission trips are good. But loving God is done in the ordinary stuff of life. Jesus said, “Love God…and love your neighbour.” That’s not so far out of reach, is it? 

In a “Morning Out for Mom’s” meeting in another church there was a discussion on the theme, “How early in a child’s life ought one to begin to influence him toward God?” After a lively conversation, a visiting grandmother was asked for her thoughts. She replied, “I began with my first child twenty years before she was born by giving myself to Jesus Christ!” A family that loves the LORD is most impacted when the moms and dads are committed to loving the LORD.

 

3. A Family that Follows the LORD (6-9)

 

Loving the LORD is intimately connected to following the LORD. Following is discipleship. Moses instructed the people to teach these truths to their children. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them whenyou sit in your house, and when you walk by the way…”     

            The Hebrews had a term for making a formal proclamation – a lecture. This isn’t it. This is “just talking.” Moses is saying that talking about God should be a dialogue in the home. I have heard of some families where Sunday lunch is a review of the sermon they just heard (not shepherd’s pie where they critique the sermon), a discussion of how to live it out. It should be as easy and as passionate as talking about the Jets. 

            God’s vision for the family is that the home be a training place for faith. It is a laboratory for experimenting (trying out) the faith, where prayers are spoken for each other to see how God will answer. The home is the place where a child can comfortably explore the difficult questions of faith. 

            In these difficult times with challenging philosophies in the schools, parents begin to fear what their children are being taught. We put our children in school for 40 hours a week and get the exhausted version of them at home for a few evening hours. When do we get to shape their faith? We may send them to private Christian schools or to Bible camp to get some “faith” into them. My mother wanted to send me to a Christian school in Winnipeg to rescue me from the evils of the public-school crowd. But what I discovered was that parents had sent their delinquent children to these schools to straighten them out. There was more “bad influence” in private school than in the public. 

            We can’t outsource spiritual formation – not to schools or programs. The point that Moses makes is that the home is the training ground for faith. It is here that the children need to hear their parents talk about faith and loving God. It is in the home where they see faith lived out, modelled in how we “do life” and respond to crises. Paul emphasized this modelling or discipleship training in Colossians 3:12-17:

 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

            These are the qualities we our children to see in us. It is no wonder that Paul follows this challenge up with a word to the family unit in Colossians. The family that follows God is a family that makes God a priority, loves God fully, and expresses faith in action in the home. 

 

4. A Family that Understands the LORD (20-25)

 

 As an adolescent, my persistent question was “Why?” It must have annoyed my parents. That question stayed with me to this day. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we love God? Why? And Moses anticipated the “why’ questions. 

            This whole passage has been about passing on the faith to our sons (read “our children”). And in v. 20 Moses encourages answering the questions your children have about the faith, “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God has commanded you…?” 

            It all begins with a child coming to the parent and asking about all God’s rules. Where did this rule come from? And this is not just so the children know how all this works, but it is so the parents will know too. See how the parent is to answer in v. 21-22? The answer reflects how the Ten Commandments began in 5:6, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Our love and obedience starts with God’s rescue.

            We were not slaves in Egypt, so we do not relate to this culturally. But we were slaves to sin, and death was hanging over us as a result. Our rescue is described in Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. We were enslaved to sin, but God in Christ rescued us. 

            Israel’s rescue is a historical event. The LORD led the children of Israel out of Egypt. And our rescue comes from a historical event, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That’s how this all started. That’s why we do what we do.

            When your child asks, “Why do we live this way? The answer is not: “Because we’ve got it figured out,” or “Because we’re a good family,” or “Because we try harder than others.”  

            No, the answer is because God rescued us from sin. That’s where it all starts. Our story is similar to the Israelites and both stories lead to Jesus. Jesus lived the life we could not live, obeyed where we fall short, and went to the cross taking our sin with him. And he rose again to deliver us from slavery. That’s our story.  

            Do your children ask these questions at home? Do you give them space to explore the “why” of our beliefs? It is in the home where these questions should be asked and answered and, dare I say it, not the church. 

            Ultimately we want to pass on a story. Not: be better. But: Let me tell you what God has done for us.

 

The concept of the home as a little church was made famous by the Puritans, a group of English Protestants in the 17^thcentury. They believed the father should be the pastor in the home. One writer called the home “the seminary of the church.” The Puritans even printed material for families to worship in the home. They were so serious about this that if a father neglected the spiritual training of his family, he could be disciplined by the church elders. 

            The Puritans may have been extreme, but they had a great idea about the home as a little church. My own spiritual formation in the home was largely due to my mother’s influence. She taught me to pray. She modelled regular Bible reading. She led me to the Lord. She prayed that the Lord would one day use one of her children in his service.

            God’s vision for your family is that your home be a place of spiritual formation for your children. We are in the fight of our lives for our families in this generation. The battle is for the hearts and minds to be shaped by the love of God and our love for God. If we want our children to know the truth, it must begin at home. Parents, you are spiritual influencers more than anyone else.

            Some of you parents may think, “We’re doing okay, then.” That’s good. Others of you may feel, “That’s it. We’ve failed.” But the good news of Jesus meets you in both places. God is not looking for perfect families. He wants to redeem them. By his grace, we can shape the future for our children. 

            A family that learns to love God in the everyday moments will become a family that tells his story for generations.

 

                                                AMEN