Funeral Talk

A few weeks ago I took a funeral for a young man of 22 who tragically died on his way back from an army exercise. Approx 650 gathered, for a full military funeral, the following is my sermon from the day not because I think it is brilliant but because I hope it points people to the God of great comfort.

The Pain of a Lost Son

Passages: John 14:1-7

Ps 23:1-6

We come together as a community today to grieve

To Frances and her family – today is a testament to a well-loved son, brother, uncle and so much more

And so we grieve with you

We grieve of a man taken far too young from this world

It is clear from today that Stephen loved the Army

On the back of their cars they have blazoned across their number plates – serving the nation

Those involved in the Army serve us, they serve our country

The work of the Army is often not thanked enough in our public sphere – we remember at certain times throughout the year

We owe a great debt to those men and women who fight on our behalf

It is easy to see from today that there is a great and deep respect for you and an appreciation of the work you do

We want to thank you today for your service of this great nation

It is work that would take you to some very dark places

Confronting things that most of us would not even dare encounter

And even sometimes, as the Psalm writer says, into the valley of the shadow of death

The work of the army has won for us many valued freedoms that too often we take for granted

They are freedoms that we enjoy without realising the cost involved

Sometimes it is paying the ultimate cost – the loss of life

It is on this note of cost that the Bible speaks very clearly to us this morning

And it has something for us all to hear and take away

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

Frances and her family are going through everyone parents' worst nightmare

And today is a time set aside for us to remember him

To grieve together the loss of his life

But then again it is hardly the normal thing for death to be a welcome thing to someone's life

No matter how much we try to fight the ageing process

Death is something that will come upon as all

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

But God can

He willingly went through the pain of losing a son

Willingly put himself in that situation

so that we could gain freedom

He paid a high price and it was no accident

God deliberately sent his Son, Jesus onto a mission that would cost his life

The mission was one that impacted all of humanity

Each one of us today has been touched by the mission of Jesus

It was about reconciling a world full of people who have rejected him and his ways

Repairing that broken relationship

God knows about paying the cost

God knows what it is to lose a son

God knows what it is to suffer like we are today

God knows the pain of a lost son

THEREFORE

1. God is a one of great sympathy and comfort
   

If there is one thing we all need on a day like today is comfort

And God is able to offer it

This is not a false comfort or a just a determination to look on the bright side

As it is said in the Psalm

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me

The Bible never promises a life of no suffering and no pain

It is very realistic about what life can throw at us

Even the events of the last few weeks

The promise of the Bible is not that they will never happen

But of a God who walks alongside us as we walk go through the valley of the shadow of death

Of a God who is not distant and vague

But one who knows and cares and can empathise with us on a day like today

God walks with us

And so we can say with the Psalm

The LORD is my Shepherd

God is like the ancient shepherd

A shepherd is not a weak man

But rather one of the toughest

Accustomed to fighting of thieves and wild animals with his staff and rod

This is the type of shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep

Here is a picture of a God able to comfort for he is able to ward off all his enemies for our protection

When Jesus was on earth he came as the shepherd Ps 23 speaks about

He came to guard us, guide us, live for us and ultimately die for us

The cost of the death of Jesus won for us a wonderful freedom

The freedom of forgiveness with God

Jesus asks his followers to demonstrate that same forgiveness in their lives

Frances, I want to thank you for showing and demonstrating the power of what Jesus came to do

For those that don't know

Frances is an active member of our church family

She is someone who knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ

As I sat with Frances this week she has told me many times that she holds no blame for the tragic accident that occurred

No blame for the driver

But instead offering a hand of forgiveness

I'm sure that there would be many in your situation that would have responded very differently – be it with anger or vengeance – both of which would be unjustified

Frances you have shown the community gathered here today a better way and something important and wonderful and extremely powerful – the power of forgiveness

The story of Jesus is not just to his death on the cross

But Jesus was even raised out of the tomb resurrected from the dead

See it in the words Jesus says to his disciples and Thomas in the John passage as he talks about returning to prepare a place

Showing us that in there is a future place; an age to come where death will be defeated

There is a great and wonderful world awaiting those who walk with the Good Shepherd

Friends take these two passages with you

Comfort and console each other today

However God is the greatest comforter of all

b/c he is the Good Shepherd

Trust yourself to him

He will see you through all your trials

Even the valley of the shadow of death

And you are able to say

I will fear no evil

God is with me

His rod and staff they comfort me

Little ‘Arry Moorhouse

He was a little guy apparently from England that went to the States in the late 19^th Century to visit D. L. Moody. Moody was sceptical but he soon changed…

Moorhouse announced his text: John 3:16: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'. Instead of dividing the text into firstly, secondly, thirdly in ministerial manner, Moorhouse, Moody noted, 'went from Genesis to Revelation giving proof that God loves the sinner, and before he got through, two or three of my sermons were spoiled'. Moody's teaching that it was the sinner god hates, the sinner as well as the sin, lay shattered at his feet. 'I never knew up to that time that God loved us so much. This heart of mine began to thaw out; I could not keep back the tears.'

Mooving Moody

I have started reading John Pollock's biography of a man called 'D.L. Moody' it is a great read so far but the bit I read yesterday was awesome, let me set the context of what I am about to quote. One of the men Moody had working with him doing what we would call a massive kids club in the slums of Chicago had not long to live. This teacher was anxious about his class that he taught, not one of them had turned to Christ. Moody took him to all the homes of the girls in his class and he asked each one personally, 'I have come just to ask you to come to the Saviour'. At the end of the 10 days every girl had accepted Christ as their saviour. But there is time for one more meeting before he dies …….

'You are not going today. Wait until tomorrow and get the whole class together. Bring them all to tea tonight'. Moody said afterwards that if he had known what that meeting would do to him he might have stayed away. All came, the teacher spoke and read to them, and thy tried to sing a parting hymn. They knelt to pray. The man begged God to deepen the girls' new found faith. Moody prayed. 'I was just rising from my knees when one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher.' Astonished, Moody listened to the faltering, extempore prayer of a slum girl whom he had known as an empty headed scoffer. A second besought her God for power to win others to Himself. One after another the girls stumbled into prayer. As Moody heard these genuine, fervent thanksgivings, these earnest petitions, the 100,000 gold dollars of his dreams turned to tinsel, the ambition to build a commercial empire showed up tawdry, transient. Better to spend his years as this dying teacher had spent ten days.

Is there genocide in Joshua?

How would you counter the argument that Joshua is genocide planned by God?

There are a number of things to say to this question

1. There is a lot of killing in the book of Joshua, let's not deny it! And the killing is directed by God, the people are directed to put to death all those in Jericho, 'they devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it – men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys' (Josh 6:21). This happens to the city of Ai 9 (ch 8), as well as the southern and northern cities (ch10-11).
   

   
    

2. The idea of 'devoting something to destruction' is from a Hebrew word 'cherem'. Only God has the authority to impose this on any city or people.
   

   
    

   
    

3. The use of point 2 is specifically in the conquest of Canaan. It is not a broad policy with wide applicability and a long record of use. The purpose was to protect the Israelites from idolatry by ridding the land of idol worshippers (see Deut 20:16-18). But all this is still pretty bleak stuff, but there are some more realities to come to grips with:
   

   
    

   1. If justice is ever to be done, there are people who deserve destruction. The destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah in gen 18-19 troubles people less because of the debauchery going on. In relation to Joshua it is the Canaanites themselves who initiate the hostilities against the Israelites. Joshua 9:1-2 says,
      

 ¹ Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea ^[a] as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)- ²
they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.

    Even though these people knew the great power of God they still engaged in war with them. This is what Rahab knows about God in Josh 2:8-13

⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea ^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ^[b]
11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. ¹² Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

 

    The people of Canaan were not innocent victims of a form of injustice. At least some of them were God's opponents.

1. It is a difficult thing to be totally comfortable with what transpires in Joshua because of the distance that lies between us and them. We are not an ancient near east culture. I'm guessing few people would respond with a joy and glee over the destruction proclaiming 'that is what they deserve'. In fact the rest of the Old Testament rarely recalls the conquests, doesn't glory in its goriness and never promotes it as a policy for the future. Therefore we cannot ever literally apply the conquest today we just don't and shouldn't have the option today to go and burn down the city hall or local council because of their opposition to us. Joshua is describing what God did not what we should do. God is responding to the Canaanites who perish for resisting Him. Those that do respond with acknowledging the greatness of God and are therefore obedience are saved and receive compassion. This shows that there are those in Joshua who receive salvation in the same way we do in the New Testament but through Jesus.
   

   
    

2. God is sovereign. If this is true then he owns everything! As the owner he alone has the authority to decide who may enjoy the use of his property. Therefore the very unappealing truth is that God can do whatever he wishes with what belongs to him – even take human lives. (Perhaps this is why the 'fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom')
   

 

This is only a very brief defence of God and how he acts in Joshua but it does outline some of the major ideas to work though.

Does Joshua 1:8 teach the prosperity gospel?

The prosperity gospel is a way of thinking that says 'it is God's will for you to be rich and healthy in this lifetime'. It is often backed up by, in my opinion, misquoting texts and Joshua 1:8 is a favourite.

This question about what is the prosperity gospel flows out of a question about Joshua 1:8 which says

Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Does this text teach the 'prosperity gospel'?

The context of this verse is about inheriting the land that God would give them (v6). The primary blessing under the old covenant was rest in the abundance of the land of milk and honey. Under the new covenant this rest is in the superabundance of heaven (Heb 4:1-11). 'Joshua 1:8 remains a valuable text calling for courage and fidelity to God's word, but its specific promise of material prosperity does not apply to Christians' (Brian Rosner, Beyond Greed, p39). I think the other problem with the prosperity gospel is it has discontentment written all of it – I am not happy with my health or my wealth and I want God to fix it for me now. Rom 5:3-5 is helpful here:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us

Paul doesn't seem to think that the Christian life is one of health and wealth but of hope and hardship and then he firmly believes that this is what is worth rejoicing in (in fact the word 'rejoice' could also mean to boast)!

Simple Church critique: That’s not how you make porridge

Things have slowed down on this blog but not quite to a standstill. I have been reviewing the book 'Simple Church' and there is a lot to like from it but in this post I review what I think is the biggest downfall to the book – their use of Scripture.

'That's not how you make porridge! You remember those ad's don't you?'Some little Irish guy saying how there is only one way to make porridge, well my last post about Simple Church is that for all the good that comes out of the book the use of Scripture, in my opinion, left a bit to be desired. Let me give you some examples

On p16ff they talk about Jesus as the man who knows simple, he simplified the Law with its myriad of Laws down to a single commandment. While it is true that he did this but is the application of this Scripture therefore that we should simplify everything because Jesus summed up the Law into a single phrase? I'm not convinced that if I was preaching on Matt 24:34 that I would come to the conclusion of a simple church based upon the logic of what Jesus does here.

Then on p18ff they use the story of Jesus clearing the temple as a justification for decluttering anything that gets in the way of encountering the 'simple and powerful message of Christ'. I would have that the main and obvious (read simple) barrier to encountering the message of of Christ is our own sinful hearts as opposed to clutter that invades church programs. Don't hear me wrong on this one, if there are things in church that we do that make it difficult for the message to be heard they need dealing with but Jesus clearing the temple and us decluttering our churches seems like a big theoligical and exegetical jump to make.

On p78ff they talk about Hezekiah (he was one of the good kings!) and when he destroys the bronze snake made by Moses (Num 21:6-8). And perhaps this line is delibirately provocative but they say, 'He got rid of it because it was clutter'. Once again I'm just not convinced that this is the main point of 2 Kings 18 or that if you were preaching it it would naturally flow as a point of application out of the text.

So, what exactly is my beef – well as the litte Irish boy said – it's just not how you use Scripture! The fancy word for it would be eisegesis which is when you read into the text rather than letting the text speak to you.

It is my gut feeling that the ideas in this book are brilliant and as they did their research they have stumbled across something very helpful but then gone looking for some Scripture to back up the 'simple church' idea.

Or maybe I'm not reading some of these passages well enough and not seeing the broader scope of application that may be present.

Is it too easy?

Chapter Four - Three Simple Stories

I have been working my way through book 'Simple Church' summarising the chapters. Today we hit chapter four, you can find the previous summaries - chapter 1, chapter 2 & chapter 3.

This chapter looks at three churches using the simple method. The basis of the chapter begins with a discussion of Matt 16 when Jesus says

Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not
overpower it.

The church is something that is God given and therefore not even Hell can hold back the church, it is a powerful, intense and unstoppable movement. They then illustrate how gates that don't do fulfill their purpose (keep people or cars out or in) are useless. Their point about gates being purely a defensive mechanism is interesting. Therefore, the gates of Hell is always on the defensive never on the offensive - 'the church always has the ball'. The question they then ask from this is: 'how big a dent in the gates of hell will we make?' This chapter is showing us 3 stories that are causing big dents in the gates of hell

Immanuel church in Glasgow

They show that their contention - simple churches grow disciples - is working in Immanuel Baptist Church. There is clarity (connect, grow, serve); movement (through the connect, grow, serve), alignment (all the ministries adopt and actively use and promote the process) and there is focus (they use all their energy and resources into this process).

Numbers wise they have doubled in size from 150 to 300 over 2 years. But there are other benefits they outline - an increased morale, a sense of urgency to move people towards maturity, visible spiritual growth, conversions, better financial situation and and sense of unity.

Christ Church in Miami

Once again (as above) there was a group of pastors committed to simplifying the church and the church has been growing. There is clarity (connect to God, others, ministry and the lost); there is movement (actively seeking to move people to connect to God - others - ministry - lost); alignment (all ministry activities have the same process from the kids through to adults) and there is focus (they eliminated programs that didn't fit over the course of 2 years and it seems they made some tough calls!)

Northpoint Community Church

Northpoint began their life as a church committed to simple and have been the 'epitome of simple'. The church has had immense growth from a handful to sixteen thousand in ten years. They use the analogy of foyer, living room and kitchen. Once again the four elements of clarity, movement, alignment and focus.

The reason Northpoint is able to do things so well is because they have chosen
to only do a few things [...] they refuse to add programs or events that will
distract people from the simple process that God has given them.

These 3 stories have all engaged with a simple process that guides its ministry and is pushing back the gates of Hell.

My thoughts

Each of the above churches seems to be in a very healthy way. People are growing from infants to maturity through a simple process of discipleship. Each church is seeing people come to Christ for the first time. They have all had to varying degrees growth in numbers alone with Northpoint growing substantially. There is a degree of scepticism about large churches in Sydney as we prefer to grow churches by breaking off around the 150-200 mark to begin another church. I am fence sitting on this one at the moment.

But the stories are good, I do wonder if there are the stories of a simple church that is not growing?! But they probably don't sell books.

At this point it is hard to ignore the evidence. But it also seems all too easy a bit like the 'silver-bullet' talked about in various places.

The next portion of the book (Part 2) is about becoming a simple church but before we get there the next post will be about the book's use of Scripture so far.