Wilderness Wanderings

As they say, 'the world's going to hell in a handbasket.' A sentiment that has been true in almost every age. Many of us have said it and will say it again. In our own city of Hamilton, ON, three things tend to dominate the headlines: homelessness, drug addiction and murder and political corruption. Well, that's four.

When we look further afield, wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters are common news fodder. And more recently, the fall out of COVID 19 and the war in Ukraine tie the commentators in knots. They race to the microphones and twitter spheres to offer their expert opinions only to revise them a day later.

We have been warned. As Pastor Anthony said last Friday, Jesus told us it would be like this. Now in our text for today, Jesus warns us to "be careful". What is it we must be careful of? Not to get caught up in wars or taken down by an earthquake? No! We must guard our own hearts.

You see, the constant barrage of bad news can make us grow weary. The weight of this news can strip us of any hope of relief. And in that weariness and hopelessness, we can gravitate to either of two extremes. We either party so hard we forget all our worries, or we get so concerned about our personal wellbeing we immerse ourselves is material security. We either party ourselves to death or we work ourselves to death.

Jesus encourages us to embrace a third alternative. Keep alert. This is what we were told to expect, so don't be surprised by the daily dump of bad news. Patience is the key. Pray for strength to keep on our feet. There are times when our eyes will be shutting with tiredness, spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical, and when we will have to prop them open.

This is what it's about: not an exciting battle, with adrenalin flowing and banners flying, but the steady tread, of prayer and hope and scripture and sacrament and witness, day by day and week by week. This is what counts; patience is a fruit of the Spirit after all. This is primarily a spiritual battle. Prayer is what keeps hope alive. Prayer for patience, for steady progress towards the goal.

Prayer together. Read the story to each other again and again. Remind one another of what Jesus said. And keep each other awake.

Jesus' point is not to make his followers fearful that they will lose their salvation, as some preachers and parents have done. He is leaning into what Paul will later flesh out, "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).

When the Lord does come back, everyone will be faced with the reality of his return and his powerful presence. Some will be ready for it, while others will be surprised. Jesus calls his disciples to "be always on the watch" in looking for his return. Our attentiveness should be ongoing. We must pray to escape what lies ahead. Our goal is to "stand before the Son of Man." All of us who identify with this Son of Man will stand in that day.

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What is Sloth? Are there any misconceptions you had about it that were cleared up or clarified today?

2. What do you notice about how and what God creates as he forms the formless and fills the empty? Name some of the rhythms and boundaries of Creation

3. What does it means to be created through God's speech and in His image? What relational implications does it have for us and all creation?

4. What does it mean to "respond" to all these gifts and commands of our Creation and Redemption? What does it mean or look like to "despond" instead?

5. Every new moment is a new opportunity to respond or to despond to Christ and our fellow human beings. How will you die to sloth so that you can rise to attend, actively to this choice this week?

God creates the heavens and the earth. As death enters the world through Adam and Eve, the creation itself is cursed by God because of it. Later, as God makes his covenant with his people in the Saini wilderness, the heavens and earth are called as witnesses to the agreement. In the prophecy of the Old Testament, it is often noted that dramatic changes in the heavens and the earth will be signs of the day of Lord. When Jesus is born, the heavens rejoice by revealing a new star in the sky to mark the occasion. At Jesus' death, Matthew reports that the earth quakes, splitting rocks and tombs open. Following Jesus resurrection and ascension, Paul reports that the whole of creation now waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

God created the heavens and the earth. Sin and death impact not just our lives, but the whole of creation: the heavens and the earth. Christ's redemption is also a redemption of not just us, but all of creation—all of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.

So it is not strange then that the second coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, should be accompanied and heralded by a great shaking of the heavens and the earth. Will the sea and the heavenly bodies be shaking with excitement like a little puppy at the front door when a visitor comes? Maybe it's just so.

Obviously earthquakes strike terror into our hearts and certainly any funny business in the sky would do the same, but should these things happen in our lifetime, Jesus would invite us to close our eyes, take a deep breath and remember: all these things belong to him. The heavens are his, as are the earth and the seas, for he made them. And while their shaking will be an apocalypse for sure, it is not a revelation of our death, but of our life.

Apocalypse literally means revelation. And what is revealed in these signs is best said by Jesus in his parable of the trees. When you see leaves poking out, you can see for yourself that summer is near. That's what we're seeing right now in these warm days as plants begin poking through the earth around our houses. And it means that the death of winter has ended. The summer season of lush and verdant life is nigh. Just so: the impossible-to-miss shaking of the heavens and the earth will be the excited puppy dog promise that the King is returning.

As he comes on the clouds with power and great glory, we can lift up our heads at long last, for our redemption to life has finally drawn near.

Maybe we'll see it in our lifetime and maybe we won't. But let this picture from Jesus cut through all the dark and fearful days of this present moment and keep you living with purpose and faithfulness with heads lifted high until that day when he returns and redeems all things.

The prosperity gospel is "the belief that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for us, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth." That's according to Wikipedia. It's a reasonable definition of what is sometimes called the 'health and wealth gospel."

Many of us have been sucked in by this teaching. Maybe not so much the second part about making donations to increase our wealth. But the business about being successful financially and physically has snuck into what we Christians believe. Earlier this week, a friend from years ago mentioned she was glad God had brought me to Immanuel. Why did she say that? Because I had told her things were going well here for me.

Do you get the connection? My sense of wellbeing meant I had followed God's leading. I wonder if she would have dared voice the opposite: that if things were not going well, I had obviously missed God's direction? Probably not. But do you see the connection drawn between wellbeing and God's blessing? That is the heart of the prosperity gospel.

In our text, Jesus puts the lie to this understanding of God. Walking with God does not equal success as the world sees it. We need to be very careful about this in our personal lives and our church life and Christian parachurch organizations and even in our places of work and business. When things do not go well, it does not mean that we have sinned or missed God's direction. It might be that, but it should not be our go to conclusion.

Jesus clearly tells his disciples that following him will include persecution and hardship. Not for everyone of course, but when it happens there should be no surprise. We have been forewarned. Following Jesus creates opposition. It will even come from those closest to us, from family and friends.

Beyond telling us to expect it, Jesus tells us not to worry about ourselves when it happens. Many Christians have told me of their hope not to be persecuted because they are not sure their faith can handle it. They won't know what to say. That's when I get to point to a text like this and assure them that Jesus will give them words to speak.

Sometimes the most effective witnessing takes place exactly when our faith is in the crucible of persecution. In such moments faith is seen as the central aspect of our lives. Jesus will give us words that "our adversaries will be unable to resist or contradict". Still, they may kill us.

Do you find it rather odd that Jesus says, "not a hair on any believer's head will perish" in the same sentence he tells us we might be killed for our faith? So much for the prosperity gospel!

Jesus is challenging us to get our heads out of the sand, not to be concerned only with this phase of life. After death, there is more life to be lived! And if we stand with Jesus in this present age, God will welcome us into the next. There is "no way" we will be harmed ultimately; that is why we can face suffering in the short term. God will protect his disciples. To stand with Jesus is to have salvation.

What does it mean to stand? In means that we claim him as our Lord, and it means we live this life according to his direction. Belonging to Jesus includes being willing to endure suffering as he endured it during his life and death. It includes choosing to do good to our enemies, as he did.

Jesus' first point to his disciples is: don't pay attention to the outward appearances of a thing. That had been his point about the widow's mites and the showmanship of the Teachers of the Law in our previous two devotions, too. It is still his point here. Things are not always as they seem.

The Temple may have looked magnificent and all the gifts of God's people too, but never has the majesty of the architecture told much about the heart of the matter. And the heart of this matter was that God was about to do a new thing. In Jesus, yes, but also in relationship to Jerusalem and the Temple: every stone would be thrown down.

Jesus' second point is that despite the deep religious, political, military, humanitarian, and even astrological and seismic upheavals: his followers need not be afraid and ought not be deceived. It is not about the outward appearances of a thing: things are not always as they seem.

Just because the world feels like it is coming undone, does not mean that it is. Just because it feels like the time of Christ's return is nigh, does not mean that it is. Just because someone comes with high religious claims of messianic proportion, does not mean they are to be believed. Our Lord has told us quite plainly: do not be deceived or taken in by these end-times or messianic predictions. Do not follow them. Follow Jesus. Period.

And yet, just like the disciples, we want to know when the end is going to come and what it's going to look like!

That anxiety runs particularly high today. Not just a rumor of war, but war itself has broken out against Ukraine. This is not the only armed conflict in the world today or even in the past few years—there have been many, like the civil war raging across Ethiopia right now. But the war of Putin against the Ukraine feels different to us. It's happening closer to home and with a much more lethal power involved: a nuclear power.

This is a war that has led to much costly suffering, has already changed the geo-political landscape in significant ways, and that carries the threat of nuclear holocaust in ways not present since the end of the Cold War.

And yet: Jesus' words remain. Do not be frightened or deceived. Stand firm. What does that mean practically? It means, I think, to continue to follow Jesus and him alone in his Kingdom ways, even now. In other words: it means things like praying, giving, and acting in ways consistent with obedience to Jesus in his ways of justice, peace, grace, mercy, and love on behalf of Ukrainians and Russians (and Ethiopians and so many others facing open war, famine, etc.). And of course, it means the prayer: Come Lord Jesus, come.

Pastor Michael will have some further thoughts on what kingdom living in tension-laden times looks like as Jesus continues this discourse in Luke, tomorrow.

A man who had become very wealthy was once asked to speak at the launch of a church fundraising campaign. In his conclusion, he mentioned that when he was young, he had pledged to give God 10% of everything he earned. He also recalled that the Sunday after he had earned his first paycheque the minister had preached on the opening words of Luke 21. As the offering plate went by that morning, he put that entire first paycheque into it. As he took his seat, the lady behind him leaned forward and whispered, "I dare you to do it again."

I do not know if this story is true, but I did read it once and tucked it away in my story bank. It gets at the heart of Jesus' reflections on the widow's offering. But to get there, we need to do a little background.

Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on the end of chapter 20, where Jesus berates religious show-offs. Jesus insists that God does not see things as we do. He does not count; he weighs. He does not count the coins we donate; he weighs the heart that gives. Jesus called this widow's gift the greatest of those that his disciples have been observing. What others gave came out of their excess. They would not miss what they had tossed into the temple offering. But this widow gave out of her poverty. She gave what little she had, even though she needed it to live on. Jesus called that real giving.

Jesus is not discouraging the wealthy from giving large amounts. He is challenging our hearts. Those wealthy would not miss what they had given, they gave showing off. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, that is all the reward they would get, "the praise of people." But the widow did not know if she would eat tomorrow. Her giving was an act of trust. Trust that God would care for her tomorrow.

That was the challenge given to our wealthy man. Would he trust God again?

Jesus is not telling us that we should give away everything we have. But he is asking us to allow the Holy Spirit to test our hearts. Why are we giving? To feel good about ourselves or as a gift to God? Do we ever give so that it hurts? Do we give so that we are deprived? Are we willing to take $50 for our weekly grocery budget, eating less costly food, so that someone else can buy groceries?

God weighs the heart. Where do our priorities lie? With sacrificial love or with satisfying our own cravings?

Jesus praises the widow because her attitude and action serve as an example of how believers should live. Jesus turns the tables of evaluation here. We tend to appreciate the amount of a gift, not necessarily the sacrifice that went into the giving. Notice Jesus uses a person on the fringe of society, a poor woman who would have been a nonperson culturally, to exemplify his kingdom ethic. God sees her gift as among the most significant. A seemingly poor gift was rich in what it cost and represented.

How do we develop such an attitude of the heart? In 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Paul writes of setting aside at the first of the week what we plan to give. What we give to God deserves priority. He should not receive our leftovers. As is all too common, the leftovers mysteriously shrink in size. On the other hand, giving to God that which is set aside from the first limits what we use for ourselves. It develops not only a healthy recognition that our resources belong to God, but it can also lead us to be more disciplined with what is left for us after we give.

And it helps us live in trust that God will provide for us from what is left.

There is a sense in which much of our evangelical world can fit under Jesus' is warning here in this passage. So much of the things that have driven our practices and our passions these past years have been a desire to grow the church, to compete with the secular world, and to prove the greatness of God by the greatness of our churches and preaching and the spectacles that we can pull off.

But, it is exactly those sorts of things that Jesus warns his disciples to beware of here. And, of course it's not just the evangelicals that that have this problem: many of us are tempted to the same. But Jesus notes that some of what's underneath this show, flash, and pizazz—are things like the seven deadly sins that we've been talking about in our Sunday worship services.

You can hear in this passage examples of things like pride. "They like to have flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets," Jesus says. There is also here the sin of greed: "they devour widows houses." "Give more!" they say, "give more!" Perhaps even more than you're able to give, all so that I can build my empire.

Jesus warns us against these things and tells us that these men will be punished most severely. Indeed these sins lead to all sorts of things that distract and that actually take away from what we show up in the church for. We show up in the church to hear a word from God, a word of grace, a word of compassion, a word that meets us in our need and that is humble enough to meet us where we are. Jesus does exactly that and his church should too.

Ministers and leaders like myself have to hear this text and always weigh ourselves against it. As James says in his letter, those of us who teach have to be careful for we will be judged more strictly. But passages like this are a warning to all of us—not just against the temptations that some of these Pharisees and teachers of law had given themselves into of pride and greed, but we are also warned not to follow those who follow these sins of pride and greed and whatever else.

Jesus says: "I have a humble Kingdom and this is not necessarily what it looks like and so if you see these things—ministers and churches that like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the business world and have the most important seats in the places of honor—beware of such things."

Beware, and always remember that Jesus came to us humbly and that his work of humbly giving himself up at the cross is eventually what saves us, not greatness in our own eyes.

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What is Envy? Are there any misconceptions you had about it that were cleared up or clarified today? Why is envy's eye said to be green?
2. What was the wider context of Jesus' parable from today's text and what did it have to do with envy? Bonus: read through the verses that follow this parable too (through the end of chapter 20—the cross, the desire for thrones, and the blind given their sight) and ask the same question (does it speak to envy's redemption?).
3. What do you notice about the parable itself? What does it help us understand about envy from the workers experience? What about from the landowner's response?
4. In what ways does envy become deadly? In our relationships with others? In our relationship with God?
5. Dying to envy in the cross of Christ: what does new life look like? What is/are the virtue/s of Christian character that begin/s to grow on the other side?
6. In what areas of your life is Jesus inviting you to daily take up your cross this week, dying to envy so that his new life might be made manifest in you?

Jesus has been peppered with questions ever since arriving in Jerusalem's temple. But after silencing all his opponents, Jesus takes on the role of questioner himself.

Everyone knew that the Messiah would be a Son of the David, thee Son, in fact. The terms were synonymous. And when people referred to Jesus as the Son of David, he never took any offence. Luke was, in fact, at pains in the first couple chapters of his gospel account to tell us that Jesus was the Son of David. He was fit to be the Messiah. His credentials checked out.

But now Jesus throws a wrench into the whole works. How can the Messiah be both David's Son and David's Lord at the very same time?

No answer is given. No one responds. Jesus doesn't explain. The narrative just moves on.

People's expectations of the Messiah were different than the Messiah that Jesus was. They were looking for a new earthly King to fight their earthly battles for them, and reclaim their earthly land from Rome. All their hopes lay within human reach. But would David have need to refer to one of his merely human descendants as Lord?

Only God can save in the ways that we need saving. Which are earthly ills, yes. We need saving from the earthly, unjust, violent oppression of war, like what we see playing out in Ukraine under Putin's aggression. We need saving from earthly abuse and its impacts, as our sisters and brothers in the Meeting House feel acutely right now following Bruxy Cavey's dismissal this week for sexual abuse. We need saving from disease, as we know from two full years to the day—today—of suffering under a pandemic. But we also need saving from a spiritual ill that shoots through and undergirds it all: sin.

Only the Son of God himself can do both. Only if Jesus is Lord and Christ can he save us from everything that destroys and disfigures life. Only if he is both human and divine—imminent and transcendent, near enough, but also big enough—can he save us from our sins and all their effects.

Thanks be to God: Jesus is not merely the Son of David, but also the Son of God. He is Lord and Christ. And even today: he reaches down to save, heal, and redeem us from all our violence, abuses, disease, and pain as only our Lord God can do. But as our human King, he is also close enough to us to comfort us in our sorrow and enfold us into his care. He is our Lord King, and in all this, we belong to him.

As we know, Jesus loved to tell stories. He often answered a question with a story. In our text, his opponents decide to use his own device against him. The Sadducees come to him with a story about a woman who marries seven times. They conclude with a question, "At the resurrection whose wife will she be?"

The Jewish leadership of the day was broken roughly into two parties: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. One of the differences between the two groups concerned their belief in the afterlife. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Thus, their question is not honest.

In his response, Jesus tells them that they haven't read the Bible very well. God clearly told Moses that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Present tense. The implication is clear: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all died, but if God was their God some 400 plus years after their deaths, then there must be life after death.

Before he gets there, Jesus tells them that in the age to come there will be no marriage and like the angels, we will no longer be subject to death. Honestly, I don't like the sound of that first part. I like being married. Recently, as many of you know, Helena and I became grandparents. Does the lack of marriage mean that no more children will be born? No grandchildren? Not a fan of that either.

One of my colleagues once quipped that Jesus might have said this 'tongue in cheek'. After all, the Sadducees were trying to trick him. I haven't found anyone else who takes this position, so we should probably not travel that road too far.

It is worth noting that the Bible gives very little detail about life after death. In fact, this is one of the rare passages that gives a glimpse and since there is trickery at stake, we ought not press it for information it doesn't give. But it does suggest that maybe we put too much stock in marriage. It is not the only way to live a fulfilling life that glorifies God. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul highly recommends staying single.

What ought we to take from this passage? First and most clearly, there is life after physical death. This is comfort for all who have lost loved ones in the Lord. Jesus rarely engaged in the scholarly debates of his time, but here he does. The Sadducees are plainly wrong. There is life after death. To God, all are alive.

Regarding the resurrection, Jesus hints that life will be different. We do not just go to heaven when we are raised from the dead; we are transformed (1 Cor. 15:35–58). Life after the resurrection takes place in a transformed community, where sin no longer exists. We live in a world so full of sin, including our own, that it is hard to appreciate how wonderful such an existence will be. Yet God assures us that he will make us like himself.

It is not just where we are going that makes the hope so great, but who we will be when we get there. The quality and purity of relationships will extend far beyond what marriage provides today. Sin will no longer cloud our relationships, and the quality of personal interaction will be directed fully by the presence of God.

In the resurrection, life will be better because we will be better. Maybe we ought to spend more time pondering what we will be like, than the streets of gold.