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Archives for April 2016

Gospel of John – woman at the well

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“if you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me and I would give you living water” – John 3: 10

The person of Jesus Christ never ceases to amaze me. As I think throughout the week about the passages of the Bible I am reading, Jesus is always at the forefront. This particular passage is so deep, so rich in the promises of God, that we could spend months hiding in here without moving on.

How about a few of these? Ever wondered how or why Jesus always seemed to hit with such precision, the very people God was preparing? Jesus must have prayed intently, frequently (and I suspect for long periods of time).

The church founded here, as a result on the innocuous midday meeting around a well with a Mrs Nobody, has lasted at least until today. In turn, it has founded many other churches in the region. Few would know the longest running empire in the world belongs to the Son.

The Son provides the exclusive gateway to the Father. Few understand this, and many, many people wish that wasn’t the case, while even more believe in almost anything but that (incl many ‘near Christian’ “denominations”).  The war currently going on in this world, at every level, is based around this simple fact. The world is at war with the Christ, the risen Son of God. Darkness has rejected the light.

We could go on.

Step aside though, and let us look at God’s incomparable beauty and grace found in Jesus Christ today, and do a small test – how do we measure up? That is not cynical, as I believe that Jesus wants us to measure up, and will empower us, if we would just submit.

Firstly, Jesus speaks to those he met with searing precision, and doesn’t dance around the issues that are such high stakes in their lives – that is, our sinfulness before God is an issue. To Jesus, sin is always the problem and it needs dealing with. When did you last begin sharing the Gospel with someone from the perspective of “you’re not good enough to meet God, so there is a problem?”

Around a table a few weeks ago, we were discussing speaking into some people’s lives we had met; their lives were, well, messy and we were cautious in our approach. Someone at the table, who had experienced life in a similar vein suggested that often speaking directly to the problem was the answer, rather than always being circumspect. How true that is!

Yet then there is no condemnation found in Christ Jesus; while he offers us a true reflection of who we really our, the relationship doesn’t end there. It invites us to accept that which is on offer, that which can be found nowhere else. Living Water, Jesus the living Son of God. Jesus always offers us the opportunity to repent, and then to believe in who he is.

Repentance, when bracketed with belief in Christ, leads God to immediately respond in a person’s life with grace and forgiveness. Such is the overcoming power of that response for many people, that their reaction is one of ecstatic delight – “surely not” we say, “how can it be, this amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.”

In this instance, the woman, so rejected and dejected that she is shunned into drawing water when there is nobody else around, now finds the Messiah, the one promised in Isaiah who would come to save the world from its sin. Her repentance, her belief leads her to cast aside her unworthy status and run to tell those around her about what she has found. She, of all people, has found favour with God, because of him!

As I write this, we are ministering to people who have all the hallmarks of the woman at the well. Rejected from an early age, they have no belief that anything or anyone can help them escape from a life that has gone so totally out of control.

We believe – utterly believe that Jesus can restore all that they have lost in their lives, and transform them into something that neither they, nor us, can even imagine. We know that, because we see it, and read it everywhere. Around the world, and in our backyard, Jesus is transforming lives. It is not always easy, but it is a reality.

Friends, let me leave you with this simple truth. The effects of sin are devastating. Death, decay and destruction are apparent in every corner of the world. On a personal level, people today are traumatised almost out of existence. But the death of Christ, has superceded the effects of sin, such that nobody – not a single person is beyond God’s matchless and transforming power, through Jesus Christ.

So, how did we go in the test? We must tell everyone we come across the full story of the Gospel, and never be surprised at who responds.

Gospel of John – the woman at the well

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Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
– John 4

Perhaps one of the most well-known passages in Scripture, what can we take from this that would be useful to us this week?

We could look at things from Jesus perspective and see much that is remarkable in an unremarkable everyday passage. Historically, Samaria was the worship place of the northern kingdom of Israel, before it was taken captive by the Assyrians, never to be rejoined to the southern tribes (Judea) from which Jesus came. The nation split after Solomon’s reign, and the Northern tribes moved the place of worship from Jerusalem. But the nation became ‘contaminated’ after it was captured, and they intermarried to produce a mixed race, something the orthodox Jews despised because it contradicted their law.

Further, we get an important clue about this woman because of the time she came to the well. It was midday, the heat of the day. Normal people, women in general (who drew water in those days) came in the morning and evening. This was a person who was shunned, probably ashamed.
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, it was in the night. He couldn’t afford to be seen with the Messiah during normal business hours, it risked his reputation. The conversation he desperately wanted had to be had at night.

But for Jesus, there was no pride concerning one race, or even gender over another. Decades later, Paul would note that we were all ‘one blood under Christ’, highlighting God’s perspective on his creation. The woman was surprised that he would talk to a Samaritan, and his disciples were surprised that he would talk to a woman. Only Jesus appeared entirely comfortable.

How often our pride gets in the way of our opportunities, as we choose who is suitable for the Kingdom of God. I was reading only this week, that bad people make great disciples because their deeds make good fertiliser. Do we know any bad people; do we go looking for ‘bad people’ or do we spend our lives hanging out with good people? As we walk and talk with people about the Gospel, we almost always find that the greatest interest comes from those who don’t consider themselves good enough, and are lacking in any religious background. Dare we say it, those of ethnic background seem so much more interested in our God, than we do.

When I look closely at Jesus’ conversations, there is almost always a vulnerability about him as he talks with others. The Lord of the Universe never seems to overpower, or take the conversational high ground, rather he comes at things with openness and humility, meeting people in their current state. There is no condemnation nor judgement.

We see also that people matter to Christ. In 1 Peter, we are told that all of the heavenly realm – angels, principalities and authorities (both dark and light) accept the absolute authority of Jesus Christ as Lord of all, and yet he deems a despised, adulterous Samaritan woman worthy of a conversation. It seems he almost went looking for her. To converse with such people, a woman especially, was considered by the Jewish elite to make oneself unclean before God, yet here is God’s Son, deciding that she needed his attention.

Recently I was cooking at a bbq for the Salvation Army, and I found myself with a hanger on, who talked incessantly; the man was out of his mind, addled by a heavy drug addiction and he made no sense. In a short period of time, he assured me that he had been a well-known surgeon, an explorer and a successful businessman in a life that was still quite young. I confess that I didn’t bother to give him the time of day, but every now and then in the conversation he would suddenly ask me if I was listening, or if I just wished he would go away. He caught me off guard with his perception of my patronising attitude and I was ashamed. There is none of that here. Jesus is on a mission and this woman was important.

The array of people that Jesus spoke to is simply staggering. He appears delighted to be in anyone’s company, and was willing to draw near to all; he simply shared, and shared simply the purpose of his mission without allowing any prejudice to get in the way. Prostitutes, tax gatherers, ethnic minorities, people with deep shame, the sick the lame, even the religious elite – Jesus went looking for them all.

What does he teach us? Firstly, that you, that I, – we, are important to God. He loves us all. Then, he teaches us that we must never assume to need to measure up before we come to him. We don’t measure up, he knows that and we know that, but we must come anyway. We shall not be turned away.

Finally, for those who believe we must change our thinking. In churches, too often I hear us tell people to come to Jesus, but before that happens we must take him to people. With one so great, so magnificent, so full of God’s grace, why would you want to keep it a secret?

Gospel of John – Free, I’m free, thank God I’m really free

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“there is no judgement against anyone who believes in him”  John 3: 18

Jesus spoke scorchingly about sin as he walked the earth; he knew more than we do, that sin has brought decay and destruction into this world, as each of us turns our back on God and pursues our own way of life.

He also knew that God was not going to let us go unpunished, but there is a judgement coming, from a God whom the Bible describes as a ‘consuming fire’. You may not read about this is in the world’s press, and our governments of the day may find it unpalatable to teach such things, but here Jesus provides us a nicely rounded Gospel.

The difficulty with our sin, is that we can only compare ourselves to other sinners, and so we get a very jaundiced view of the world. “I’m not as bad as him, but perhaps not as good as her” our logic tells us. God’s yardstick in the heavenly courtroom will be perfection, and there will be no grading system. The examination is either pass or fail, and we are told repeatedly that we have all failed. (Incidentally, that is quite different from saying we are all failures).

What we find so fascinating when we get out on the streets to tell people about Jesus, is that it almost comes as a relief to many to hear that they are sinners, the same as everyone. The church, with its holding onto a ‘priesthood’ (a grave sin in itself) has created a system of grading with the intention of making good people better. But, what if you are never good enough in the first place? Once people decide that they are not good enough, they shrug their shoulders and decide, ‘what’s the point?’

There are two of the greatest truths in eternity encased in these verses, which have been hidden in plain view. The first is this, God loved us while we were still dead to sin. We could no more change our condition than a brick becoming a tree, so God took the initiative, and he did it because he loved us. Never forget that, it is vital to the story.

We see the awfulness of sin around the world today, and it is ugly, destructive and filled with violence. The offense against a Holy God is severe.

Yet here Jesus tells us, that in spite of that, God loves us and so decided to do something about it. Friends, we believe in a God who is in the business of pushing back the darkness in the world, and calling us back to himself, until one day he has us to himself and will finally complete the job he wants to complete. This is not static Father Christmas up in the clouds, this is a Holy God who deals with the muck in our lives. He loves us.

Secondly though, we find the idea of ‘guilty or not guilty’ very difficult to come to terms with. We know we still sin, and so we have lingering doubts about whether we are actually good enough. What does good enough actually look like?

The severity of our rebellion, was more than matched by the severity meted out on the Son of God, and he has completely cleared us of our wrongdoing. I wish I could get more people to understand this. So many believers linger in doubt. If we put our faith in him, there is no judgement. When you stand before God, there will be no file kept. God will run his finger down the ledger and see your name in the Book of Life, and the case will be closed.

We must tell people the full Gospel when we talk to them about Jesus. They must hear it all. Our grubbiness, and self centredness which has caused such strife in the world. God’s love for us, and the fact that he moved first. On acceptance of the free gift that is offered in Jesus Christ, we are set free.

The guilty verdict has gone. Let’s meditate on that this week, and make it a part of our being. It will change our perspective on everything.

 

Gospel of John x

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“no one needed to tell him what makind is really like” – John 2:25

John 3 contains perhaps the most significant passage of the entire Bible, one so deep you could easily spend months just dwelling on these small verses alone. The love of God, the Son of God, why Jesus, the answer to life, it’s all contained in this passage.

It begins with a conversation, between a young, 30 year old man and a leader of the Jewish council, who was likely in his 60s or even 70s. Such conversations were rare, not because they took place which they often did, but because the younger seems to be instructing the older. Nicodemus was on the Jewish Sanhedrin, and notably absent in the vote required to convict Jesus to death (along with Joseph of Arimathea). You would suspect his absence was due to an ongoing relationship with the young Christ, which probably started here.

“What do you mean, how can an old man go back into his mother’s womb to be born again?” he asked Jesus.
Jesus’ response to this question, aligns very much with his thoughts at the end of the previous passage. So the story of the Gospel unfolds.

 
We can talk about it more in the coming weeks, but here we learn something of the Gospel message, and that is firstly that a) sadly, we are untrustworthy and cannot be relied upon to complete the task but then b) God is capable of completing the task and can be totally relied upon. It is the human story, and what makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ so compelling. God rescues me, he wants to rescue me, and he is the only one who can rescue me. I may be reluctant to face that, I certainly don’t deserve it and at times I probably don’t enjoy or even want it. But God, contrary to all our wants and expectations offers us this second chance in spite of ourselves. Salvation, rescue remains in nobody else but him.

The more immersed I become in that rescue, the more incredible it becomes to me; the vast assurance of God against my own paltry efforts. Humanity flails against what God can and will do, and in vain we watch governments and humans subject each other to vast experiments that invariably bring catastrophe.
But, when we as believers see the transformation of another person because of the purpose of God, through Jesus Christ, we are simply astounded and delighted.
“how are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

As the Kingdoms of men crumble over the centuries, behind all the dust and rubble still stands the towering figure of Jesus Christ. In him is revealed the love of God, with his vast assurance of the rescue of mankind, not as a group or conglomerate, but as an individual, “so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life”

Let’s find someone to tell this week, and see what God will do.

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