Unbelief

Mark 6:6 might be one of the most worrisome verses in the New Testament. 'And (Jesus) marveled because of their unbelief...' Jesus was taken aback and amazed by the lack of faith He found in Nazareth. Most of the time in the first six chapters of Mark, people are amazed at Jesus, this time, Jesus is the one who is amazed, and not in a good way.

Jesus has gone home, for the last time as Mark records it. Back to Nazareth, one final teaching opportunity for His disciples before He sends them out two by two. He's asked to teach in the synagogue. I don't know whether or not this is the same occasion as Luke 4, but i want to say that it is. Why would the men of Nazareth try to kill Jesus and then have Him back to speak? It doesn't seem all that likely.

So Jesus teaches and people question Him, they insult Him (son of Mary, wink wink, nudge nudge), they're not really interested in what He has to say. In Nazareth He couldn't heal many because of their unbelief. This doesn't mean that Jesus is like Tinkerbell, He doesn't need our belief to give Him power, but it means there were no crowds, there were no women clinging to the edge of His garment, not desperate fathers with dying daughters. Just a few sick people.

And Jesus was amazed. Ouch.

How does He deal with this unbelief. Maybe we should pause and ask how we would deal with this unbelief. He knows that a prophet is not without honour except in his hometown, and he identifies himself with the faithful men of God in that way. I don't know what i'd do next, but i'm not i wouldn't have my own 'sons of thunder' moment here. You don't believe? Then BANG! i'll give you something to believe in. Y'know, something gracious like that. Jesus doesn't do that, instead, He carries their unbelief, and yours and mine, and dies under the weight of it.

What happened at Nazareth was in miniature what happened everywhere. Jesus came to His own and they rejected Him. He went to Jerusalem, and they rejected Him, eventually, most of His closest followers turned their back on Him, as He bore their sins on the cross.

This is how Jesus deals with our unbelief. He dies for it. He dies because of it, and rises three days later, and by His Spirit now graciously shows us His glory in the face of God. Before we saw nothing valuable in Jesus. We obscured His teaching with our irrelevant questions and oh-so-clever slurs. Now? Now we see, now He's died and risen we see who He is, and we can cry out 'i believe, help my unbelief!'

Jesus came and we didn't believe. We didn't want to know. And He took that unbelief and He killed it, and left it in the grave. Now He shines glorious from the pages of history, and we see Him, not just as the 'son of Mary,' but as the risen Son of God. And as we see, we believe.

Grace Appeared...and Appears

Paul's account of the Christmas story, in Titus 2:11-14 is, as you would expect, all business.

No angels, no shepherds, no wise men. Paul shares the nativity with Titus in just two words; 'grace appeared.' What happened at Christmas? The grace of God appeared. Jesus came, and He brought salvation for all people.

I was thinking over these verses on Wednesday morning as i got ready to share them in junior chapel. Here's the Christmas story that you need, grace appeared. Here is the greatest gift that there is, Jesus. Grace isn't something seperate from Jesus, some object or feeling He puts into us, Jesus is grace. More grace in our hearts equals a greater and deeper knowledge of Him, and great appreciation of His love, and deeper response from us. This grace teaches us how to live. We're are to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. We're not to worship our work and play at our worship, but labour to be brought close to God, worship and pray so that the centre of the universe would be the centre of the universe would be the centre of our lives. We are to be self controlled, Godly and upright. We're supposed to behave differently because of what we believe.

But there's something else in these verses that i hadn't ever really let hit home yet. Verse 13 tells us we're to do these things 'waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ.' As we look back on Christmas, we are to look forward to the second coming. As we remember that Jesus has come, we need to remember that Jesus will come again. We need grace to live godly lives, and we need grace to remember that Jesus will come again. We need to think and love and live differently because Jesus has come, and think and love and live differently because Jesus will come again.

In many ways, you and I live at the end of Isaiah. Isaiah is talking to the Jews in exile. He promises them that God has not forgotten them, that someone better than Cyrus will come with a better deliverance. But in the mean time, people sin, God's people mess up, and sometimes this hope seems a long way away, hard to believe even. But the exile did end, and then when Jesus came, the exile really ended. This is where we are isn't it? Fighting to keep our eyes fixed on the return of the King. Trying to live upright and Godly lives as a response to the amazing grace given at Christmas.

Well what a great reminder Christmas is. As the world celebrates Christmas, and as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, let's pray that we would look forward to a real celebration, one that makes the wildest super bowl parties look like tea with grandma. One with something real and eternal to celebrate. Just as sure as Jesus came, Jesus will come, just like grace appeared, grace will appear again.

Holiness and Friendship

Richard Sibbes says this:

as the woman poured oil on the head of Christ, so we will do well to pour some oil on the feet of Christ. Let us do to His members what we would do to Him if He were here, that we may further our communion with Christ.

What do you think about holiness? What do you think about holy people? Is there, in your mind a group of people so close to God, so 'holy' that you'd never actually want to spend time with them? In fact, time seems to stand still when you're with them. They might be handy when needing to know about the finer points of supralapsarianism, but you don't want to get trapped next to them at the church fellowship.

Is this the Biblical view of what holiness does to a person? Removing them from the norms of social interaction? No! As Sibbes points out above, from the conclusion of his sermon on Song of Songs 1:2, and as Paul shows us in 2 Timothy 4:9-12, real holiness, Biblical holiness, issues in a deeper love for friends. Sibbes tells us that the woman who poured perfume on Christ's head is to be our example. In the body of Christ we have the opportunity to serve Jesus by serving His people. That might be taking someone out to lunch after their first visit. It might mean giving someone a lift to church who doesn't like to drive after dark. It will almost certainly mean leaving our comfort zone for the sake of someone else.

What did it mean for Paul near the end of his life? Stuck far away from sunlight and fresh air, knowing the end was coming, almost deserted except for Luke? It meant he wanted to see Timothy, his son in the faith, one last time. Demas has deserted Paul, and he has sent Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia and Tychicus to Ephesus, presumably holding this letter in his hand. Even towards the end Paul was burdened for his churches. But he wants Timothy. Yes he wants books, and parchments and a cloak to keep him warm  but he wants Timothy. One more time of prayer together, one more word of mutual encouragement, one more opportunity to help this young man out. One more chance just to be with his best friend, his son, his brother.

Pick up Mark on the way, he tells Timothy, for he is very useful to me. Mark had left Paul, Paul didn't want to take him back, but now ten years later, he wants to see him again. And this won't be a 'drop the books and run,' this will be a sweet fellowship, this is what Paul wants as he ends his life. Other people.

I guess we'll never know if Timothy and Mark made it in time. It's impossible not to be moved by the thought of Timothy setting off from Ephesus, racing to Troas, willing the boat onward across the ocean. Maybe there was a reunion, or maybe Paul had received his reward by the time Tychicus arrived.

Regardless, as Sibbes points out, and as Paul demonstrates, holiness doesn't mean being cloistered away. Holiness issues in close, loving, fellowship. Holiness wants to share, and spread. And of course it does. Who is our triune God but a spreading holiness? Of course, when people are shaped back into his image, they want to be together, they want to share. This is the very nature of God, and it should be ours too, that as we grow in holiness, we grow in love and we grow in fellowship. Our hearts not hidden away and suffocated, but reaching out, as the Father reached out to us.

Today I Am Thankful For

My salvation. I'm thankful that Christ came to save anyone, i'm amazed that He came to save me. I was reading Isaiah 52-53 this morning as providence would have it. Upon Him was the chastisement that brough us peace.

My wife. A constant, faithful, helpful provocation to me. I'm thankful for her hard work both in her job and mine.

My ministry. It really is a privilege to be the youth pastor and Trinity. I can't really think of a better job than where you get paid to study the Bible and tell people what you've discovered. I'm thankful that three times a week in church, and four times a week at school i get to teach the Bible.

My church. For their love, prayers, trust and faithfulness. I'm excited about what God is doing among us. I'm thankful that it's usual to see people saved, baptised and discipled.

My immediate family. Working with young people, i know how rare it is to grow up never doubting my parents love and support. I'm thankful that my family loves and supports me to this day. I'm thankful for facetime.

My extended family. This is my sixth thanksgiving. I'm thankful for how the Cash/Sweeney/Justice/Ferguson tribe has taken me in.

Church planters. As a group of people, no one stirs me more than men and women who set off into the great unknown to start churches. I'm thankful for Logan and Grayson in Provo, Jay and Annette in Dover, Myron and Julie in Gilbert and Heath and Jamie in Houston. I'm thankful that we got to take our teens to Provo and Dover this year, and thankful for the impact those trips have had. I'm always thankful for Sean and Liz in Reading.

For enduring friendships. I've had two conversations this week that could have happened at any time over the last six to eight years.

Right now, i'm thankful that it's eight o'clock on Thursday morning, and i have the prospect of three days with Rachel in front of me. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bible Question is 'Who?'

We've been studying Revelation together for the past few weeks in Teen Sunday school. Last weekend we covered chapter 4, sort of leaving port and pushing off into the great unknown of the main body of the book. The stuff that i think my teens were thinking of when they asked to study this book, the many headed beasts, the woman clothed with the sun, the dead prophets in the street.

Something in us, and i think it's a good thing, wants to spend time puzzling these things out doesn't it? Something wants to tie down once and for all who the 144,000 are and whether the millennium is a literal thousand years, and what exactly happens during that time anyway. I'm no different. I was reading A Fire Kindled From Heaven again this weekend, and found myself wondering why i think the Puritan's have the Song right but Revelation wrong. It's ok to mix and match from history though isn't it. I don't even agree with Piper on everything (that's what i tell people anyway!)

I guess there are two equal and opposite errors we can make reading Revelation. We can either take it too literally, or not literally enough. If we make the first error we end up reading Revelation like Acts, trying to ascribe meaning to every detail, and missing the big picture. If we make the second, we forget that John really did see these things, and they really do have something concrete to tell us, and we end up missing the big picture.

And what's the big picture? Wrong question, who is the big picture? Jesus. Who is always the Bible question. Who does Abel tell us about? Or Joseph? Or Ahasuerus? It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not a text book for the end of the world.

This is clear in chapter 4. When you read it, the word throne stands out above anything else. So you can get caught up in the colours of His appearance, or who four things the living creatures signify. Or you can get your eyes on the throne, and bask, and join in with the worship of the creatures and elders. We can look around us and be discouraged whether in the first century or the twenty first, or we can look to the throne and see Jesus. See Jesus who holds everything in the palm of His hand. See Jesus who rules for His people.

This is the big picture isn't it? Not only of Revelation, but of the whole Bible. The question is who, not what. Who sits on the throne? Who is worthy of worship? Who is your beloved? Who is this man who commands the wind and the sea.

Jesus. He is the big picture, He is the answer to the puzzle, He is the key to the lock, He is the highest point of any superlative you care to name. And He is the point of Revelation. Let's get our eyes on Him.

Jesus is the God who carries

Do you ever feel, perhaps in gray Mondays in November, that carrying on is about all you can do. Maintaining the status quo until you get to go back to bed is the best you can hope for? That in some situations, or a combination thereof, you've simply reached the end of yourself? Well then, my friend, Jesus is the God for you.

Isaiah 46 is written to the Jews in exile. Far from home, surrounded by pagan gods, their city, and with it their hopes, in ruins. They've been judged and sent far from home. How can YHWH be God? How can He be more powerful than Bel or Nebo? We're here in Babylon, and there's precious little hope. Hope hangs by a thread for the people Isaiah wrote to, maybe it does for you too. Chapter 46 brings us back to reality with a lovely bump.

Who are Bel and Nebo, asks the LORD? They're statues carried by beasts and livestock. Nothing special, or fearsome there. They need to be carried, they are a burden, they are the problem, they add to the problem. People of Israel, don't worry about a god who rides a beast to get around, don't worry about a god that can be picked up in someone's hand. Don't worry about a god who needs carrying.

Instead, verses 3 and 4 remind us, trust in the One who carried you. House of Jacob, people of God, you've been carried by the God from before your birth, from the womb. You've been looked after by Him since before you can remember. God has loved His people from the beginning. It's a holy, jealous, purifying love, which explains why you're in Babylon, but it's not a love that has left you. Nor will it ever leave you. 'even to your old age I am He, and to your gray hairs i will carry you.' House of Jacob, people of God, don't be misled by circumstance, i've loved you from the beginning, i'll love you until the end.

I'll carry you home again, Jesus promises. This section of Isaiah, 40-51, is full of reminders about the exodus. God will feed and water you in the wilderness, and God will bring you home. How? Well first He'll raise up Cyrus, who will change your location, and then He'll send Jesus, the true and better Cyrus, the One who rescues us from our real exile, who'll change our hearts.

Who has heard or seen a God like this, who works for those who wait for Him? So people of God, be comforted this morning, as you sit in exile, be comforted when it seems like all hope is gone. The twists and turns of your life end up somewhere good, not off the edge of a cliff. The Saviour is coming, the exile is ending.

My Song Is Love Unknown

I don't know that there's a better way to spend fifteen minutes today than to listen to Toby Sumpter speak on 'my song is love unknown.'

Here's a sample:

He told us that He would always come for us, always defend us, always protect us. And then we asked if He would mind if we married another husband. Would it be OK with you, if we had another King besides you, we asked, one day while looking out the window. You know, like the other nations? You aren’t like the other lords, the other kings, the other husbands in the world. We can’t see you, and the other nations, they can’t see you either.

When the knock came, we were nervous. But when we opened the door, we were surprised. We had never seen Him before, but He wasn’t how we had expected Him, how we imagined Him. He looked too young for starters, barely grown. He wasn’t handsome like we thought. And when we asked Him who He was, He ran out into the Jordan River and stood in the middle of the stream and smiled. John piled the water up over him, and a dove came down and for a moment we heard His song, like a low rumble. Remember? He called to us. The other men inside laughed at Him, but then He went on. Watch, He said, as He made His magic. He played with a brood of vipers, and He turned water into blood-red wine. Remember? He asked. And He went walking across the sea like it was nothing, like it was dry ground, and later, with a flick of His wrist, He pushed a legion of demons into the sea. He sang us His song on a mountain, and gave us bread in the wilderness, bread for thousands. Remember? He asked. Remember, how I love you?

It's ostensibly a message on 1 John 4:8-10, and is simply breathtaking in it's scope, and presentation of Jesus. Don't just have it on in the background, listen, read along, and ask God that He would help us know the love of Christ that passes knowing.

Listen here, and read here.