Here I stand...

...Betrayed by Facebook, Warned by Judas

phil_greenow@tiscali.co.uk (Philip Greenow) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 08:45:00 -0700

This week I preached at 3C for the first time in almost a month! (In March we’ve ‘halted play’ due to snow twice, and I was invited to preach to a church in Bristol on the middle week.)

I’d missed gathering and sharing fellowship with my brothers & sisters so it was great to be together as we started a sermon mini-series. I’ve titled this series ‘Easter Eyewitnesses’. In each sermon we’re going to look at what happened in the lives of two of the people who were part of the first Easter. This week we spent time looking at two of the ‘villains’ - Judas & Caiaphas.

On Sunday we saw that as we witness the events unfold in the lives of these two men we should be called to repentance & faith. In this blog I want to look a little closer at Judas.

Judas - ‘Friend'

Judas was one of the 12 (Matt 10:4). He spent 3 years walking with Jesus. He saw the miracles. He was a ‘friend’. It seems almost inconcievable that someone who had walked so closely with Jesus and lived with him could be so callous as to hand him over to his enemies. But that is just what Judas did. He sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave (Exo 21:32).

In a world over-run by Facebook the word ‘Friend’ can now describe a passing awareness or a distant social link to a person. Friends aren’t just ‘aware’ of us. Real friends share in the initimate moments of life - the highs and the lows! It isn’t a relationship built around ‘status updates’, ‘comments’ and ‘likes’ but we share meaningful conversations that speak to our hearts and shape our actions. Interestingly, in recent days it seems that Facebook has betrayed the ‘friendship’ of at least 50 million users and allowed the shady characters of Cambridge Analytica to harvest our data for political purposes. (*1) Who can you trust?

However, we shouldn’t be so quick to judge Facebook or Judas. If we truly know Jesus then our lives should be shaped by our friendship with Him. So, how’s that going? Yeah…same here!

We stumble, fail and fall in so many ways - sometimes we can feel more like Judas than we might care to admit. The writer to the Hebrews urges us to throw off the 'sin that clings so closely’ (Heb 12:1), there’s a choice to be made. It seems in his heart, Judas, treasured money (John 12:4-6) and possible political influence more than Jesus. We must choose, daily, to make Jesus our closest friend and allow His Word, by the Spirit, to shape our hearts and minds (Rom 12:1-2).

Judas - ‘Follower'

It was pointed out after the sermon on Sunday that Judas had acted under the influence of Satan (Luke 22:3). This is quite correct, but it didn’t come as a 'bolt out of the blue’. Before this there had been a repeated pattern of habitual, unrepentant sin in his life. More significant than this, Judas continued to reject the truth about Jesus. Look at the exchange between Jesus and the disciples after he tells them that one of them would betray him - The other disciples say; “Is it I, Lord?” (Matt 26:22), they recognise the Lordship of Jesus. Judas says; “Is it I, Rabbi?” (Matt 26:25), he is only willing to acknowledge Jesus as a ‘teacher'.

There are two warnings for us here. Firstly it is possible to follow Jesus’ teachings and not make him Lord in our lives. Our attitudes and actions should demonstrate that our deepest affections are all directed towards Jesus. My prayer is that with each passing day I will ‘...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:18). Will you join me in this?

We believe that God is patient and forgiving, however it appears that it is possible for repeated disobedience to harden our hearts to God’s Word and the truth of the gospel. This seems to be the case for Judas. When this happens the door is opened for spiritual beings to afflict us, just like Judas and also King Saul (1 Sam 16:14).

I do believe that it is possible for demons and spiritual forces to oppress and attack believers, however we are told clearly in James that they need not have the victory (James 4:7-8).

"James does not suggest that Satan might flee from us if we resist him. He does not hope that such will be the case. He does not say that perhaps we will be successful in our opposition to his nefarious plans. He declares without hesitation or doubt that if we resist our enemy he will flee from us.” *2

The victory belongs to Jesus because of the finished work of Calvary. Satan, sin, death and all hell fell defeated at the cross when Jesus cried - “It is finished!” (John 19:30)

Questions for Community Groups/Personal study:

Would you want a ‘friend’ like Judas? How would you react?
Who do you call a ‘friend’. How do they influence your life? How do they help you to become more like Jesus?
Jesus was called the ‘Friend of sinners’ by his critics (Matt 11:19). What do you think that means?
'For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' (Romans 8:13)
- What happens if we live for ‘the flesh’?
- What do we have to do to truly ‘live'?
- How are we to do it?
Where are you struggling to be obedient to God? What ‘sin’ keeps causing you to stumble?
- Pray about it, looking to the finished work of the cross, ask God for the strength to overcome.
- Find a trusted Christian friend who will pray with you and will keep asking you about your walk with Jesus.

Footnotes:

*1 - https://www.techradar.com/news/us-uk-investigating-facebooks-role-in-cambridge-analytica-data-breach

*2 - Storms, Sam. Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life (p. 175). Zondervan.

...horrified by idols, delighted by/in Jesus!

phil_greenow@tiscali.co.uk (Philip Greenow) — Wed, 7 Mar 2018 10:50:00 -0800

Tuesday night and another elders meeting was drawing to a close. The conversation had moved on from the pastoral concerns, prayer requests and business of church life. We’d just discussed the merits of banana cake and we were talking about my project for today - building an idol!

Making an Idol

Now before you all decide go ‘Old Testament’ on me and 'assign me a place with the heathen' I need to explain. Tomorrow morning, the Open The Book team are going to be acting out the story of Manasseh, the king of Judah (2 Kings 21:1-18). I’m playing the part of Manasseh and I need an idol to worship and an altar to make sacrifices on. So that explains why we currently have a 5 foot high statue of Molech in my lounge but why am I writing about it here?

Worshipping an Idol

As we stood round last night, discussing the practise of idolatry in the Old Testament, we talked about Molech and the rituals that were carried out by the worshippers. There is some debate over the exact nature of all that was practised in the worship of these idols. It is clear that Manasseh looked to reverse all that his father had done to cleanse Judah of idol worship. Eventually "...he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.” (2 Kings 21:6)
Yup, you read that correctly - he burned his son as an offering! This is a graphic description of the nature of these sacrifices.

The children were placed, alive, in the outstretched arms of the idol, which had been heated until it was glowing red! To drown out the screams of agony a band of muscians would play and the mothers would stand by stoically tearless. (*1)

It’s this horrific scene that ‘provokes God to anger’.

While we may not physically ‘sacrifice' our children and loved ones, there are still 'idols’ that may call us to sacrifice time together or cause us to fail them in other ways - this could be work, family relationships, ‘progressive’ education agendas or even our ministry responsibilities.

Revealing an Idol

Last night, as we discussed these practices, Saul mentioned Jeremiah 7:31 where we read this [Emphasis mine]:

"...they have built the high places of Topheth, ...to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind."

The practise of child sacrifice hasn’t even crossed God’s mind…(well, as we’ll see that’s not strictly true!) but what this does mean is that slaughtering innocent children isn’t going to make you right with God!
Clearly God has a better way in mind to make it possible for us to draw near. He doesn’t call us to sacrifice our sons for Him…because He is going to sacrifice His son for us! Just allow that to sink in...

All 'false gods' demand our time, money, effort, devotion and attention. They seem so attractive and promise to deliver so much, yet behind it all they are hollow idols, devoid of real power and they will ultimately fail us and enslave us. God provides a way for us to escape their clutches and experience true freedom.

Smashing an Idol

The theologian John Calvin is observes;

"...the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols.” (*2)

Calvin links our constant idol making, both physically and mentally, to the depravity of our hearts. So to be a Christian is to be continually smashing the idols in our lives. We need to be aware of ‘the high places’ in our hearts where we are drawn back to worship idols instead of God - and set about demolishing the site. Where do we need to revist today, swing our spiritual sledge hammers and smash our false gods to smithereens?

Establishing True Worship

It’s all boils down to the object of our worship. Once a false god is de-throned, we must allow Christ to take it’s place or our hearts will rapidly fashion another ‘god’ for us to devote ourselves to.

Our ‘false gods’ will always, and ultimately, lead to our destruction. It is only Jesus, the eternal Son of God; who can bring us eternal life through His sacrificial death. Join me in delighting in Him!

Questions for Community Groups/Personal study

When you hear the word ‘idol’, what do you think of?
God is ‘provoked to anger’ by idol worship. Why?
What idols are worshipped in our society today? (What are things do people admire, adore and devote themselves to?)
Are you aware of the ‘high places’ in your own life that need to be demolished? How can you destroy them? Who could help?
Read 1 Peter 3:18. What made this sacrifice different to any other? Tell someone why you delight in this truth.

Footnotes:

*1 - https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/molech-moloch.html - (see Rawlinson's Phoenicia, 113, for fuller details)

*2 - Institutes of the Christian Religion - John Calvin - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.xii.html

...able to love others because I am deeply loved in Christ!

phil_greenow@tiscali.co.uk (Philip Greenow) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 09:21:00 -0800

Tomorrow is Valentines Day, the day when we’re told that receiving a dozen red roses, a cuddly toy and a card with an annonamous sentimental message is a meaningful expression of ‘true love’ and not the worrying actions of an unstable stalker.

It’s possible that my cynical tone has more to do with the bitterness I feel at never having recieved a valentines card, than it is about my deep unease over shameless marketeers profiting from our deep longing for love.

I love love! At heart I’m a hopeless romantic. I've been known to enjoy a rom-com or two. When I proposed to Becks I spent months planning the moment, weeks thinking what to say, days choosing the ring and hours printing, double-backing and laminating pictures to hang in ‘our tree’. I get that romance is beautiful, heady and exhilarating! It makes us feel good and the film industry, agony aunts and magazine columnists work hard to sell us this picture of ‘love’, how to achieve it and what to do when it starts to fade.

Historically, christians and the church have sometimes got it wrong when it comes to the relationship between a husband and wife. I said as much on Sunday when we looked at 1 Peter 3:1-7. The sermon came with a ‘Public Health Warning’ because it’s possible to misunderstand the passage or to be uncomfortable with the message.

Misunderstanding the passage:

In the seven verses we looked at there are three instructions concerning women that could be misunderstood. Peter writes:

“… be subject to your own husbands…” vs. 1

“… Do not let your adorning be external…” vs. 3

“… the woman as the weaker vessel…” vs. 7

Historically the Church has, in error, taken these verses out of context and told women to ‘give up your rights and be subject to your husband. What he says goes because you’re a woman!’ When it came to outward appearance women were instructed to ‘give up your identity and dress modestly. Don’t provoke men by your clothing - you need to cover up’. Because of gender differences, women were expected to ‘give up your freedom, you can’t do those things because you’re a woman. You put a brew on while we get on with the real work’.

All of this to say that I don’t believe that the subjugation of women was ever Peter’s intention in writing these words. Peter saw Jesus treat women in a radically counter cultural way - Jesus openly interacted with women, He spoke to women gently and with care, He valued women’s prayers, support, fellowship, service and witness. (*1) Peter knew that Jesus wasn’t looking to oppress women but that in coming to Him, men and women are revealed as equal before God.

The main thrust of this letter isn’t about who it’s addressing, but it's about how the readers should be living! Peter is calling us all to live lives of submission, with our identity grounded in Jesus, looking for opportunities to care for others.

Edmund Clowney puts it like this;

Free in slavery to God, free as followers of Christ, they submit themselves to others freely. No-one else has the status and honour of Jesus Christ, whom Peter confessed to be the Son of God. Yet Jesus had washed Peter’s feet like a domestic slave. His girding himself with a towel for that humble task was as nothing compared to his bowing beneath the cross to bear Peter’s sins. It is Christ’s example that Peter calls us to follow in all the relationships of life. We need not be concerned about maintaining our rights. Jesus trusted his Father, the righteous Judge, to do that; and so should we. The Christian who follows Jesus does not grasp for privilege; he or she is already privileged beyond imagination. The Christian seeks rather opportunities to imitate Christ in willing subjection to service. (*2)

Jesus elevated relationships between men & women and gave them a new goal.
In knowing who I am in Him, my marriage is set free from the unbearable burdens of self-fulfilment, lustful passion and begrudging servitude.
Instead it becomes a living, breathing, dynamic picture of the Gospel, played out in glorious technicolour for everyone to see!

Uncomfortable with the message:

It’s possible then that you’re uncomfortable with all this and you’ll continue to believe that the Bible is sexist and that the Christian view of marriage is designed to oppress women and elevate men. Why? Because it’s easier to believe this caricature of christian marriage and so ignore the inconvenient truth that through marriage God reveals profound mysteries...

Marriage is not a sacrament conveying divine grace, but it is the human relationship that God has designed to mirror the love of Christ for the church, and of the church for Christ. (*3)

Questions for Community Groups/Personal study - 1 Peter 3:1-7

What do you expect for Valentines day? What will you give?
Have you ever seen/heard/experienced the errors that result from taking these verses out of context?
We’re told that ‘Beauty is only skin deep’.
1. How does God view true beauty? (vs. 4)
2. What can make this difficult to achieve?
Peter gives Sarah as an example of a godly wife, calling us to follow her example...

‘...Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, [if you] do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.’ (vs. 21)...

Peter acknowledges that some things are frightening
1. Can you think of times when Sarah could've been scared? (e.g. Genesis 21:1-7)
2. What things can be ‘frightening' in married life?
3. What should we fear? (1 Peter 2:17)
4. How does that bring freedom?
Men only - What can hinder our prayers? (vs. 7) How can you be more ‘understanding’ towards your wife?

Footnotes:

*1 - https://www.crossway.org/articles/how-jesus-viewed-and-valued-women/

*2 - Clowney, E. P. (1988). The message of 1 Peter: the way of the cross (pp. 127–128). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

*3 - Clowney, E. P. (1988). The message of 1 Peter: the way of the cross (p. 135). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

...with Faith, Hope & Love

phil_greenow@tiscali.co.uk (Philip Greenow) — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 09:55:00 -0800

Since the start of the year we’ve been studying the New Testament letter - 1^st Peter. I’ve really enjoyed getting stuck into the book and delving into some of the Old Testament imagery that Peter draws on. We’ve seen how Peter is eager for his readers to understand that there should be a world of difference between they way they live and the way unbelievers choose to live. On Sunday we saw that we don’t live for the rulers & authorities of this world, but we should seek to submit to them as they discharge their God given duties in praising good conduct and punishing wicked acts. When our Faith is on trial, we should know Hope in submission and show Love in action.

On Sunday I shared the story of Pastor Sohn Yang-Won. You can read the whole story here. There is a powerful moment in Pastor Sohn’s life after his two sons have been murdered during a communist up-rising. The responsible boy, a friend of theirs, is caught and convicted. Pastor Sohn writes to the court to asks that the life of the youth be spared and he asks for permission to adopt the boy and raise him as his own son!

I was struck by such a glorious picture of how God has responded to our uprising against him. After our actions resulted in the death of his son, Jesus. God chooses to set us free from the chains of sin, adopt us as his own and pour His love into our lives. Pastor Sohn clearly understood the grace that was extended to him in the Gospel! He repeatedly chose to allow the reality of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection to radically shape his response to suffering and persecution.

In his letter Peter urges us to '…submit to every earthly authority' - 1 Peter 2:13. This is a huge expectation, especially for us in today’s culture of individual importance and vain, self-seeking ambition. However, it was no less challenging for the first century recipients of the letter. In verse 18 he says, ‘...be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.’ This would’ve caused quite a stir. You see ‘unjust masters’ wouldn’t just have put them on a double shift on their day off! Slaves were owned by their masters, like you or I might own a house. They could even kill their slaves and get away with it. Some people might suggest that destroying your slave was a foolish choice...but it was your choice!

Peter (and Paul) have a clear expectation that slaves aren’t to react in anger towards their masters but their behaviour should be a living expression of the gospel that they’ve believed and that has made them citizens of another world. Some may ask, 'why do Peter [& Paul] seem to agree with slavery - haven’t we been set free?' Kaiser et al, explain it this way;

This [early church teaching] both reassured the Roman society and made the real reason for persecution clear. Christian slaves should be more obedient slaves than other slaves, for they knew that the “pay” in heaven would be good. If their masters persecuted them, it should be for their faith and nothing else. Christianity was not subversive in the sense of stirring up rebellion. At the same time, it raised the slave to a new status of an equal human being before Christ. After all, in the eyes of the church slavery was just a job, and what job or social status one had on earth did not matter (Jesus did not have a great social status at any time in his life either, and he died a most shameful death, an executed slave’s death). If the job was done “as a slave of Christ” the reward was equal, whether one was a human slave or a human master. Paul’s [& Peter’s] strategy was thus that of producing an expression of the kingdom of God in the church, not that of trying to change society. (*1)

What Peter is seeking to do is to avoid critics, of which there are many, being able to discredit the gospel message because of our ungodly behaviour. He knows that the truth that had been revealled in Jesus wasn’t just about reforming society here and now, it has an eternal, cosmic goal!

This week I went to see the film ‘The Darkest Hour’. I won’t review the film here but if you haven’t seen it you should. (My brother made the excellent suggestion that it would be ideal to see ‘The Darkest Hour’ first and then follow it with the recent film ‘Dunkirk’ to have 'maximum impact'.)

I have to admit that as I sat in the darkened cinema I had to wipe my eyes as Winston Churchill stood at the dispatch box and delivered his now famous ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ speech. It was his closing statement that really stirred my emotions. I’m sure he understood the Bible imagery he was drawing on and the huge theological truths he was referencing! It was all I could do not to stand, clap and cheer as he uttered these words;

"...until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old." (*2)

This is what Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection has set in motion - a chain of events that will culminate in His return as King and the New World will finally step forward to rescue and liberate the old!

Questions for Community Groups/Personal study - 1 Peter 2:11-25

How would you describe Pastor Sohn’s actions towards the murder of his sons?
What did Pastor Sohn do to submit to every authority? How did he show his faith on trial, his hope in submission and love in action?
Peter urges us to '…abstain from passions of the flesh’ (vs. 11) as they’ll cut us deep. How do find healing and wholeness for these wounds? (vs. 24)
As Christians we are called to radically different lives

‘...to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps’ (vs. 21)...
1. Do we find this easy? Why?
2. Where is the church globally succeeding/failing?
3. Where are you personally succeeding/failing?
How does your life as a Christian reveal what Jesus’ Kingdom is like?

Footnotes:

*1 - Kaiser, W. C., Jr., Davids, P. H., Bruce, F. F., & Brauch, M. T. (1996). Hard sayings of the Bible (p. 644). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity.

*2 - https://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/