Hospital or Hide-out?

I've been thinking about one of the most powerful sermons in Jeremiah.

When we come to Christ as church, I think that two principles are essential.

1. Church is a hospital for sinners
BUT
2. Church should not be a hide-out for rebels

But, how can the two be held together when we - the people who come for healing - are by nature rebels against God?

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah 7:1-11)

In Christ we find safety from our sins, not safety to continue in sin. This is why we welcome all people no matter what they have done; and this is also why we take discipleship and church discipline seriously.

Many people who have no regard for God and his ways go to church and essentially say: 'the church of Christ, the church of Christ, the church of Christ' and they say say 'we are safe-safe to do all sorts of detestable things.'

Many others come as broken sinners and look for healing from Christ. We come clean to God with our failures. He covers our sins, we don't.

Church can be a safe place to come to God, but a most dangerous place to hide from him. Look at the last eight words of the quote above.

exam today

i have an exam today at 1pm.  you can read my post from a couple of days ago to see what i'm studying.  i'm not that confident about passing today.  i actually have no idea if i've done enough work and i haven't done an exam in five years.  i want to do my best and honour God and his word in the process.  

even if i fail i have three serious consolations:

1. my hebrew has improved dramatically.

2. i have really enjoyed the privilege of a taking a bit of time around my other work to delve into God's word and prepare for this exam this last week or so.  i've found it refreshing.

3. it doesn't matter so much how i please my marker; what matters is that i please my Lord.

i'll let you know how it was.

Jesus is our father

I've just seen another one!!!

I've been making a list of the places in the Bible which describe the Son of God, the Messiah, as the father of a new people. It is a profound theological point. He is our brother and in another way he is our father or ancestor. He is the new Adam after all for all who put their faith in him. Here is where I'm up to

1. Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

2. Isaiah 6:13
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.
(This is part of remnant theology. If Christ is the true remnant of Israel, all new Israel is his progeny).

3. Isaiah 8:18
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
(Hebrews 2:13 puts these words in Jesus' mouth)

4. Isaiah 50:1-2
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many.
(I think this verse is setting up God to bring the many from the one again!)

5. Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the LORD’S will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring (lit. seed) and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

6. Hebrews 2:13-15
And again, “I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
(Jesus is both brother and father in this passage)

7. New Adam Typology / Remnant theology in the New Testament

8. (the one I just found) Jeremiah 33:22 (ASV - much more literal; NIV obscures this one)
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
(I think that the remarkable thing is that the seed of David and the new Levites are one in the same in Christ)

If Jesus is our ancestor ... this puts a profoundly new emphasis to the sometimes maligned word 'Christian' - one who belongs to and follows Christ. We are Christians not just because we follow him in faith and obedience but also because we come from him. We are his spiritual progeny after all.

Exciting News

I just went to Parish Council as their guest tonight to put before them a proposal. They were really behind it! They are a very godly and gospel minded group.

I can't tell you what it is yet - but I can tell you after we tell all our church congregations this Sunday. All I can say is that it will need a lot of prayer.

Abortion Makes Me Mad

I want to know how to respond to abortion. I want to care for those who decide to keep their babies ... but whenever I think about it I have one overwhelming response: anger. I get so angry that I can't think rationally.

I am angry at the women who terminate their children. I'm angry at the fathers who are so often absent and just as culpable (if not more so). I'm angry at the medical workers who don't take a stand and kill, cut up, suck out and dispose of these little ones. I'm angry at the law that turns a blind eye to so much illegal activity. I'm angry at the politicians who do not protect the rights of the unborn. I'm angry at christian leaders who say nothing. I even get angry at Christian leaders who speak on the topic but couch it only in terms of women's rights and do not call it for what it is. I even find myself angry at the video that is doing the rounds about free money for new lives because it couches abortion in terms of a subjective harm on the mothers. But over all this I'm angry at myself for not doing enough. On this topic I have nothing else in me but anger.

This doesn't seem right. But I want to know - should I be angry? Is it wrong to be so angry? Because if it is I need to stop being so infuriated. But at the moment I can't help it.

PS. I think that fathers, mothers and health professionals who have been involved in abortion can find complete forgiveness and a new start in Christ (just like every other sinner) as many have done as they confess their failure before God. His arms are welcoming to everyone who wants to come home to him.
PPS. There is sin in my life that (if I'm honest) I'm not angry with at all. Is that just hypocrisy? Maybe it is.

A great weekend of preaching

God seems to be raising up some very capable new preachers at our church. This weekend I heard a very hard hitting word at Fight Club (men's b'fast) by Bero, the best talk I have ever heard on Colossians 2:6-23 by Tim at Evening Church and I keep hearing reports on how good Dr Phil's talk at SNL (youth church) was. A hat-trick!

And Neil's talk on Sennacherib was a powerful reminder that God is God and there is no other.

Turning

I have seen this little phrase in Jeremiah in my readings the last few days ...

"They have turned to me the back of their necks and not their faces" (Jer 2:27; 32:33)

If only all people
If only God's people
If only I would live with my face towards the LORD always.

What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church? A Parable.

h/t Anglican Church League

What are the big lessons our churches need to learn? Can we come up with five?

Studying Again

I spent a full day studying today at Moore College. I haven't done that in almost five years. There were two or three of us in the library at any given time with about five staff on hand serving us. (My hat goes off to the staff for running a first rate library.) With Thai Times Nine for lunch - I really, really enjoyed my day.

I'm studying for an exam next Wednesday on Jeremiah for my MTh. This exam is set just for me. I have to know the Hebrew of Jeremiah 1-8; 25-26; 30-36; 42; 50-51 and have read about 20 books and articles on it.

I preached a ten week series on Jeremiah and wrote some Briefing bible studies a couple of months ago, but have done the studying in the last week around the edges of my work. I'm not sure whether I should have done the exam before preaching the sermons... maybe next time I'll do that.

I've learned quite a few things today and my Hebrew is getting better. Most of the tomes I have been reading have been struggling with why Jeremiah seems so mixed up - why his message seems to have so many threads and tensions. It's almost like the structure of the book itself reflects the times, the relationship of Yahweh to his people and Jeremiah's own psyche - tormented, conflicted, hopeless and yet still hopeful. Yahweh was bringing about the suffering, crucifixion and burial of Israel and pointing to its resurrection to come.

If I pass this exam - which I may not, considering how little work I've done on it - I'll do another subject next year. Next year I want to look at Resurrection Power in Paul's thinking. You know, the power of Jesus' resurrection in the present lives of all of us who believe. I'm not sure as a Christian community we have grasped that one enough.

So next year I will probably preach a series on it ... but I'll do so after and not before my exam. I hope it will be a blessing to both me and my wonderful congregation.

Actually my study day is not over ... just had a break to eat with the family and jot down some thoughts. Back to work.

The Charge I Took

I was ordained four years ago as an elder (ie. presbyter) in the the Anglican Church of Australia. This commission has always stuck with me. With slight modification, the same charge holds true for anyone who holds an office as pastor, elder, youth leader, Bible study leader, husband or parent. The language is old. It comes from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

Have always there printed in your remembrance, how great a treasure is committed to your charge. For they are the sheep of Christ, which he bought with his death, and for whom he shed his blood. The Church and Congregation whom you must serve, is his Spouse, and his Body.

And if it shall happen that the same Church, or any Member thereof, do take any hurt or hindrance by reason of your negligence, ye know the greatness of the fault, and also the horrible punishment that will ensue. Wherefore consider with yourselves the end of the Ministry towards the children of God, towards the Spouse and Body of Christ; and see that ye never cease your labour, your care and diligence, until ye have done all that lieth in you, according to your bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your charge, unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among you, either for error in religion, or for viciousness in life.

Please pray for me and for all those in leadership.

The Fountain Opened (old obscurantus post)

"Let the water and the blood, from your wounded side which flowed be for sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power."

The song gets it right, but the commentaries miss it. I've looked at a huge amount of commentaries on John and Zechariah and have not found this link.

When water comes out of Jesus side, the water and the blood are not primarily a medical evidence. They are a fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy and symbolically the end of the temple!. John's gospel says ..

Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water ...

These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” (John 19:34-37)

He is obviously thinking of Zech 12:10:

They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son...

A few verses on in Zech 13:1 ...

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (13:1)

The key is the two terms used here. They are sin (hattah) and impurity (nidah).

1. How do we deal with sin (hattah)? Blood - universally in the scriptures.
2. How do you deal with impurity (nidah)? Water of cleansing - consistently in scriptures (eg. Numbers 19:13,20,21)

The temple has the function of dealing with sin (blood) and impurity (water). Now instead of daily sacrifice, a fountain is opened up in Jerusalem forever ... not from a temple of stone, but from a temple made from flesh ... out of our Saviour's side. Sin and impurity are now dealt with!

Let's get back to singing (perhaps with even more meaning) ...
"Let the water and the blood, from your wounded side which flowed be for sin the double cure, cleansed me from its guilt and power."

Sola Panel

Just become a solapanelist. My first post was an old one from my former Obscurantus blog. Check it out.