Category Archives: Sermons

Bethlehem

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

The first occasion in which Bethlehem is mentioned in history has been found in the Amarna letters written from tribal kings of Palestine to the Egyptian pharaohs probably sometime between 1400-1360 B.C. The ruler in Jerusalem complains that Bit-Lahmi has deserted to the ‘Apiru people, a word probably referring to the Hebrews. Bethlehem is about 9 kilometres south of Jerusalem just off the main road to Hebron and Egypt. A strategic position perched 750 metres above sea level, the town sprawls out along several limestone ridges like the tentacles of an octopus. To the east lies Beit Sahour which means the Shepherd’s Fields and the barren hills of the Judean desert. To the west are more fertile slopes around Beit Jala where corn and figs, olive fields and vineyards abound.

The town of Bethlehem is mentioned frequently in the Bible. Its location became sacred when Jacob buried his beloved wife Rachel by the road side near the entrance to Bethlehem. (Genesis 35:19; 48:7). It is possible that Salma, the son of Caleb, built the first Jewish settlement there (1 Chronicles 2:51). The town and surrounding fields also feature prominently in the romantic love story of Ruth and Boaz who became the great-grandparents of David (Ruth 1; 2:4; 4:11). The town grew in prominence when Samuel anointed the shepherd boy David, to be king of Israel there (1 Samuel 16:4-13). By New Testament times Bethlehem had come to be known as ‘The town of David’ (Luke 2:4,11).

Around 700 B.C. the prophet Micah predicted that someone greater than David would be born in Bethlehem whose origins, incredibly, would be earlier than his human birth (Micah 5:2). When the Magi came from the East searching for the one to be born king of the Jews, Herod consulted with the chief priests and biblical scholars, who it seems knew full well the significance of Micah’s prophecy (Luke 2:1-8; John 7:42).

Bethlehem is therefore unique. It is the place where Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, entered our world and became a human being. It is hard to comprehend the wonder and enormity of this fact. Words cannot improve on the declaration of the angels to the shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11).

Under the Church of the Nativity, probably the oldest church in the world and best authenticated site in the Holy Land, is a simple cave. In the silence of this ancient site, best visited in the early morning, it is possible to pause and worship near the place where the Lord Jesus Christ was born. To enter the church one must first stoop low below the lintel. The tallest must stoop the furthest, only children can enter without bending down. What a lesson in humility.

For many, Bethlehem and the Christmas story is the place where they first begin to experience the meaning of that enigmatic phrase “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), for here in this place time, eternity and destiny meet in Jesus.

Incidentally, in Hebrew, Bethlehem means ‘The house of bread’. How appropriate that the One who said “I am the Bread of Life” should be born in the house of bread. On another occasion Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (John 6:54-55). Let us indeed feed on Him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

This chapter is taken from my book, In the Footsteps of Jesus and the Apostles

The Alpha and the Omega: Revelation 22

When do you think about eternity? About your own mortality? I think about eternity whenever I turn my car ignition key. I think about eternity whenever the cabin crew ask me to fasten my seat belt. I think about eternity whenever I stand before a coffin at the crematorium, or before an open grave. I think about eternity whenever I look in the mirror and see the lines and the grey hairs. Watching the tragic events unfold in Mumbai this week again brought home this reality. God has put eternity on our hearts, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. Its tempting to ignore the news, avoid looking in the mirror, live busy lives in our own little bubble and believe that it would never happen to us, that this life is all there is, that this life is the only one that matters, that this life will go on forever. Only it isn’t and it won’t, will it? It’s a lie and we need to call it that.

Eternity became very real to me when my father died suddenly and I became the oldest male member of our family at the age of 28. It came mid way through my theological training. God in his wisdom, dealt with the one thing I was most worried about in becoming a vicar – coping with death and supporting others in their grief. I could now empathize. It is never too early to prepare for eternity. That is what Jesus has been teaching us in this series. We have been examining his great “I am” statements.

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). “I am who I am” (John 8:58). “I am the gate for the sheep.” (John 10:7). “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14). “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die.“ (John 11:25) “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). “I am the true vine.. I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:1, 5). Today is Advent Sunday, when we think about the return of Jesus. It is therefore appropriate that we come to the final “I am” in the Bible in Revelation 22. Please open your Bibles and turn to it with me: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the last, the Beginning and the End… Yes, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:13,20)

Let us consider this final great “I am” statement made in the closing sentences of the last chapter of the last book of the Bible. As we stand on the edge of eternity, thinking about the return of Jesus, three questions:

1. Who is this Jesus?

2. What will Jesus do when he returns?

3. How then should we respond?

John 15:1-17 “I am the Vine”

“Jacob came for a bride from his own people. He desired Rachel, but he did not get Rachel at first, but Leah. After he learned to love Leah as much as he did Rachel, he got Rachel as well. In the beginning Leah had all the babies, her womb was most fruitful. But then Rachel conceives. Israel shall be a fruitful vine. Jesus came for Israel. He wanted to marry Israel, but He did not get Israel. He ends up with the bride He did not desire at first, the Gentile church. After He learns to love the Gentile church, then He gets Israel. In the beginning, the church has all the babies. But in the end, Israel becomes a fruitful vine.” (Jacob Prasch).

What is the relationship between Israel and the Church? Does God have one ‘chosen people’ or two? What is the relationship between God and his people? Who is the fruitful vine?

These were the subjects addressed at a conference in Johannesburg, I attended earlier this month. It was sponsored by Messianic Good News, an organisation dedicated to take the good news of Jesus to Jewish people. It was a great encouragement to spend a week with Jews who love Jesus and who have a passion to make him known within the Jewish community. I hope we can build on this relationship and support their work in the future. Following our day with Chawkat Moucarry looking at Islam earlier in the year, and with Juge Ram on Hinduism and Sikhism yesterday, I hope that early next year we can arrange a teaching day on Judaism and learn how to share our faith with Jewish people.

Please turn with me to John 15 and let us examine the meaning of this image of the vine and the branches.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2)

Jesus makes three main assertions: God the Father is the Vineyard Owner. God the Son is the Vine. God’s People who remain and bear fruit are the Branches.

Continue reading →

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” John 14

Hands up if you own one of these? (a GPS unit). If so, do you remember what life was like before you had one? I do. Painful. The low point for me came the day I got lost in Bedford. I had gone there for a meeting and forgot the location of the road. After a fruitless half an hour trying to find my way, I was ready to give up and drive home. Then James Hughes, the former curate, phoned. “Where are you” he said. “I don’t know” I replied.

“Let me help you” and he then proceeded to open up his computer which had street maps of England. Having identified the name of the road I was parked in and the name of the road I was heading for, he literally talked me there road by road, on my hands free phone, of course. That is what made me realize I needed a GPS. I never leave home without Sean Connery now – or at least a digitized version of Sean Connery’s voice. You know when you have arrived because he says “shaken not stirred”.

Do you know how GPS works? You turn it on and type in the post code. No, that is not what I mean. Do you know how it works? “When people talk about “a GPS,” they usually mean a GPS receiver. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is actually a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails). The U.S. military developed and implemented this satellite network as a military navigation system, but soon opened it up to everybody else.

“I am the Resurrection and the Life” John 11

Are you ready to boldly go? We’re bombarded by images of the young, rich and famous, but Britain’s older celebrities are often more inspirational. A recent body image survey by lifestyle website allaboutyou.com has revealed that of 700 women, aged between 35 and 65, 86% think they are ageing better than their mothers’ generation. It’s a fact that the older we get the more we think about the future. That’s partly because the older we get, the faster time seems to pass us by. How often do you think about your future – your long term future I mean? Say 100 years time? When you think of eternity what goes through your mind? Do you expect to live for ever? Do you want to? Do you know that you have eternal life? I mean ‘know’. Really know. Not ‘hope so’. Not even ‘think so’ but ‘know’. Know to the very core of your soul? Do you? If not, then this morning is for you. If you are sure, then my second question to you is this: How do you know that you have eternal life? On what basis? We will answer that question as well. My hope is that not one of us will leave today unsure of our eternal destiny.

Now I can’t give you that assurance. Only God can. Only God’s Spirit can give the assurance that you have eternal life. And that is linked to the other great promise at the heart of the Christian faith, the assurance of sins forgiven. Knowing your sins are forgiven and that you have eternal life are base camp on the Christian journey. The past forgiven and the future secure so that in the present, you can live 100% for Jesus. How does God give us that assurance? The Word of God. The Holy Spirit of God applies the Word of God to our hearts and minds and convicts or convinces. Only he can give you the assurance that your sins are forgive and that you have eternal life. In our series on the Great “I am” statements of Jesus in John’s Gospel we have come to John 11 which contains one of the more personal and poignant encounters between Jesus and some of his closest friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus is ill and dies. The sisters send a message to Jesus that Lazarus is unwell and would he please come. But Jesus waits until Lazarus has died and the family give up hope before he decides to arrive. His first encounter is with Martha. Jesus makes one of the most profound promises ever recorded:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

more…

Sermon of the Week: “I am the Gate” (John 10:1-10)

Last month in midtown Manhattan, time stood still – literally. After the US debt surpassed $10 trillion, the marquee-sized debt clock in Times Square, which has kept a running tally of the U.S. national debt for nearly 20 years, ran out of digits. Time magazine said, “For a nation already struggling with a bleak economic reality, it was a less-than-reassuring display” With the global slide in share prices this week, it has perhaps become a sign of how the entire world is struggling with the new economic reality. Something more than a change of President in two weeks time is going to be needed. We have got to learn to live and work together more collaboratively and today’s gospel story may give us some clues. Last week I was in Jordan with Church leaders addressing a different kind of crisis. The slow but progressive haemorrhaging of the indigenous Church. They are leaving the Middle East due to attacks by Islamists from Sudan to Iraq, from Afghanistan to Egypt. To flee or to emigrate has always been a natural response to economic necessity as much as religious oppression. And in the light of the last couple of weeks, if you work in the City, maybe you have felt like fleeing also. You may not have thought of emigrating to Australia but perhaps the thought of a simpler, slower lifestyle in the countryside, working on the land or with animals instead of people, is rather appealing.

Continue reading →

Spiritual Gifts: Romans 12:3-8

“It wasn’t too long after creation that the animals got together to form a school. They wanted the best school possible; one that offered each student a well-rounded curriculum of swimming, running, climbing and flying. In order to graduate the animals agreed that they would each have to take all the courses. The duck was excellent at swimming. In fact, he was better than his instructor, but he was only making passing grades at climbing and was getting a very poor grade in running. The duck was so slow in running that he had to stay after school every day to practice. Even with that, there was little improvement. His webbed feet got badly worn from running and with such worn feet he would then only be able to get half his grade in swimming. Now average was quite acceptable to everyone else, so no one worried much about it except the duck. Now the rabbit was at the top of her class in running, but after a while she developed a twitch in her leg from all the time she spent in the water trying to improve her swimming. Now the squirrel was a peak performer in climbing, but was constantly frustrated in flying class. His body became so bruised from all the hard landings that he didn’t do too well in climbing and ended up being pretty poor in running. The eagle was a continual problem student. She was severely disciplined for being nonconformist.

Continue reading →

I am the Light of the Word: This week’s sermon

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Genesis 1:2). That pretty much sums up the news this week doesn’t it? Formless, empty and with lots of darkness. Although we are two weeks away from the end of European Summer Time, it seems the sun went away a long time ago. The nights are drawing in and the days shorter. But its not shorter days that has made this week seem particularly dark. Robert Peston, the BBC’s business analyst summed up the decision of the government on Wednesday to invest a cool £500 billion in the UK banking sector, with the understated heading, “Armageddon Avoided”.

In his words, “there’s been a co-ordinated global attempt to prop up the financial system and save individual economies from a deep dark recession.” It will take a while before we know whether we have avoided a ‘deep dark recession’ or just a short grey one. £500 billion is a lot of money. Considerably more than even the US government has provided for its own banking sector. On Wednesday, the US treasury secretary Henry Paulson warned that some US banks will still fail despite the $700bn government rescue package to shore up the financial system. Talking to some of you who work in the City, it seems there will be a few more sleepless nights ahead. What I find surprising is how few analysts predicted the global impact of the failure of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. One might say, in the words of Genesis 1:2, “darkness was over the surface of the…” city. But the verse goes on to say, “…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3). It was on a similarly dark day that Jesus stood up in the Temple in Jerusalem and cried out, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).