Are You Willing to Live with the Consequences?
Posted: June 26, 2022 Filed under: Adultery, Avarice, Bible, Communion, Cross, Environment, Generosity, Integrity, Jesus, Justice, Money, Oppresssion, Parsimony, pleasure, Sex Leave a commentGuy Paul Morin! Maybe that name sounds familiar? “It was October 1984, when tragically a nine year old girl was murdered in Queensville, Ontario just south of Lake Simcoe. The Police quickly focused on Guy Paul Morin because he was odd and played a clarinet. (As an aside, we at Temple do not think clarinet players or other musicians are weird. You are weird for thinking musicians are weird.) Back to Guy Paul! This tunnel vision by the police led to a wrongful conviction of Guy Paul Morin. Eleven years later, he was acquitted after new DNA evidence exonerated him from the crime. He never got back those years in prison. A commission entitled the Kaufman Commission investigated the wrongful conviction of Guy Paul.”[1]
There are a lot of commissions now a days to investigate crimes and misdemeanours that have far reaching affects in our society. Some of these commissions are current and getting lots of press. Some of us just ignore them. I would remind you though that these commissions can be effective when not politicized. Commissions fight against the cancel culture. They fight against covering up the dark spots of history and aim at history not repeating itself. We Christians should not buy into the cancel culture. Why? Because the Bible is not a cancel culture book! It tells all the sordid details of its characters so that we would learn to avoid their same mistakes. Another recent book Bullies & Saints would be a good example of all those details in church history. However, the Bible is not a book of morals. It teaches about the evil in the world and the solution for evil found in something, or better yet, Someone. That Someone is God the Son come down to earth. He didn’t deny evil happened, but paid the ultimate price for it with His life, memorialized at the Cross, and now offers us grace to cover over, not cover up, our sins. The Cross was God’s ultimate Truth and Reconciliation commission. The truth is we have committed crimes and misdemeanours in breaking God’s law and yet God has reconciled through Jesus Christ. The Cross did more than put forth recommendations, but through it, God has changed us from the inside out so that we no longer need to live in guilt.
However, being no longer guilty does not mean that there are not consequences for our actions. Please explain this to your Muslims friends and neighbours because that is a falsehood being perpetuated that Christians can do whatever they want and God lets them off with it. The Bible makes it very clear there are consequences for our sins and we are to take sin very seriously because God does. God sent His best through Jesus Christ to deal with our sin. The Bible does not teach that grace cancels our crimes, just our guilt. We may pay for those crimes on earth with imperfect justice. This penalty is on the horizontal level. It helps bring justice on a human and relational level. However, every sin we commit against our fellow humans is also a sin against their Creator and our Creator. This is why sin is always against God and not just His image-bearers. Sin has not only a horizontal effect, but also a vertical effect. Case in point is David, who prayed to God in Psalm 51:4, when confessing his sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband, “Against You, and You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” David understood that his worst crime was against God. The Bible still teaches that there are consequences for our actions. And there is no better passage that describes this than Job 31. Please turn in your Bibles to Job 31! I have to tell you right now that Job 31 is completely weird when you first hear it, so I better give you some background first.
Let’s start at the beginning with answering the question who is Job? Job was the richest and most righteous person in the Ancient Near East. He lived sometime between Noah and Abraham. In the story, Job spends his days not living out the payoffs of being a great business man, but by praying for his children and making sacrifices for them if they had sinned. What a reminder to pray for our children day, even when they are adults. One day Satan comes to put “God on trial.”[2] As God suffers attack, so do we! And in Job’s case, in one day Job lost everything – his business, his employees, his family and after that he lost his health. He also lost his peace of mind and his security of being able to count on what he thought was God’s justice. Job even thought he lost his relationship with God. His friends and Job started a sort of “commission” on God’s justice. They wrestled with retributive justice. They asked, “who is innocent?” and “Who is to blame?” Job’s “friends” thought they knew the answer – nobody is innocent, especially Job, who must have sinned greatly because all of the suffering he was experiencing. But Job was blameless. Sadly, by this point in the story, Job has been found guilty by his friends. In chapters 29-30, Job describes what he did do so as to defend his good character. And in Job 31, Job describes what he didn’t do so as to defend his good character. However, Job is not only speaking to his friends who make up the jury. Job is appealing to God as his judge. You see, Job never lost his faith. He believed to the end that we must love God even when we can’t see His goodness![3]Do you and I love God when we cannot see His goodness? And will we fear God that we are willing to live with the consequences of not following Him? Let me drill that point home with us. Will we follow God and His ways even when it’s hard and we can’t see His goodness? Lots of people don’t! Will you and I? Job 31 will help us! Let’s read Job 31 in order to take God so seriously that we would be willing to live with the consequences of not following Him. Read Job 31!
I told you this passage was weird. Maybe a clue to why Job would say these things is found in Job 31:23 in the version of The Message: “The fear of God has kept me from these things— how else could I ever face him? If Only Someone Would Give Me a Hearing!” Job repeats this thought in verses 35, “Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O that I had the indictment written by my adversary.” Job was willing to give a signed affidavit to his innocence. Just wanted to know what he did wrong. What is Job saying? Bible scholar Francis Anderson explains, “Job uses a legal tactic called an oath of clearance in the form of a negative confession. The procedure was well-known in the ancient courts. A crime could be disowned by calling down a curse on oneself if one had not committed it.” [4] This was like us saying when accused of a crime, “Here’s my DNA! Check the surveillance cameras! Take my computer and phones! Do a forensic search of my internet history! And if you find anything, then lock me up and throw away the key. Give my spouse to another, my kids to be raised by their future step-parent. And also take all my money so I can’t make an appeal. I know that I am innocent that I will risk my reputation, my privacy, my family and my riches to prove it.”
By the time Job 31 rolls around in the “commission,” Job was desperate. He had no lawyer seen standing with him. He was willing to take the witness stand himself. He is willing to put God on the defensive almost like he was “accusing God.”[5] This was not like today when a persuasive prosecutor can convince a jury or judge and get a wrongful conviction like what happened to Guy Paul Morin. Justice is not always served here on earth, which is why Job makes his appeal to heaven! And we should too! Job still believes God is righteous and is not only his hope for a fair trial but for Job’s acquittal. Do we have such a faith in God – seeking His justice? As great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “When men doubt the righteousness of God, their own integrity begins to waver.”[6] But Job kept his integrity, which is why Job wants a thorough investigation. There are areas of Job’s life that he is willing to be put under the spotlight. In broad categories, Job welcomes inspection into his thought life (v. 1-4), his words (v. 5-8), his sex life (v. 9-12), his work life (v. 13-15), his financial life (v 16-25), his religious life (v. 26-28), his hospitality ( v. 31-32), his integrity (v. 33-34) and his neighbourhood & environment (v. 38-40). We will examine those in a minute. For now, let’s agree that no one would actually let themselves be this investigated to this degree unless they believed they were truly innocent. Would you or I let people poke around in our lives that much? We might break out into a cold sweat if people saw our banking transactions or downloaded videos on our phones. The amazing thing about Job was that he was not under the law. He was not a Jew! He lived before the law that Moses received from God. Job had a law that was greater that was written on his heart. According to Romans 2:15, every human has this as well. We can’t use the excuse we don’t know the Bible or the Law. God has given us a conscience. Job understood this even if it was thousands of years ago. “Job not only argues his complete innocence in all these areas, but he goes even further by declaring that his conduct has exceeded mere obedience to the letter of the law, and that he has been faithful to its very spirit.”[7]
So permit me to explain these areas and may God put a spotlight on our lives, not so that we are exposed and embarrassed, but reminded to live right before Him. Do we fear God or people more? Are we willing to the live with the consequences for not following Him? Some of us might say today – “Consequences! What consequences?” Let’s look at the consequences Job was willing to experience and see how relevant they are to our own lives.
Let’s start where Job starts with this thought life, specifically lust. In Job 31:1, Job has made a covenant with his eyes not to look at a young woman. (And let’s not get legalistic about age. I suspect Job would not look lustfully at older women too as he is a man at least in mid-life having adult children). Notice some translations use the word “virgin” as the ESV translates. This was most likely because Job starts his defence with making a covenant to be not only live pure, but be countercultural. He was not going to take another wife or concubine as many of the patriarchs did in that day. They were polygamists to generate economic and political alliances as well as having large families to create a loyal workforce. Even though his wife wasn’t entirely supportive, Job was resolute not to lust. Recall how Job’s wife recommended to him after those horrific days of loss, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) We men can sulk when our wives are not supportive and not meeting our needs. We can forget that our wives may be hurting as well, suffering from their own heartbreaks. So no matter if we are male or female, we can turn to sex, lust and pornography to try to fill our heart-longings for desire, connection and acceptance. This is so prevalent today because porn is so readily available on the internet. It’s free – monetarily – but there is a cost – a massive cost. You can lose your marriage, the respect of others, your ministry, your testimony and your peace of mind. But notice what Job is concerned about the most? He doesn’t just make a covenant with his eyes as a discipline or act of the will. This wasn’t just Job avoiding being on the Me, Too list of his day! Job had a greater desire for his purity. Check out verse 2, “What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?” Job immediately thinks about his relationship and reward from God. Job wanted to be on God’s list of the righteous and to see God. Jesus would put it this way in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” This is one of the best strategies I have learned to fight lust and porn in my life. When I am tempted to stray, I pray! And I pray this prayer, “God, You made this person beautiful and in Your image. Thank you! Please care for all their needs and save them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.” It’s hard to pray for somebody and just after them at the same time. Prayer awakens us to treat others with dignity as fellow image-bearers who could be family someday living with God and us in the new heavens and new earth for all eternity. I also recall Psalm 16:11 to fight lust, “You have made known to me the path of life: in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” This verse teaches us delayed gratification. Why have a momentary pleasure here on earth that will then result in earthly and eternal consequences when we could have pleasures forevermore? This is not to say that there are 70 virgins awaiting us in heaven as our Muslims believe or many sex partners as the Mormons believe, but that God has something better for us than fulfilling our lusts now. We must ask ourselves: are we willing to live with the consequences of lust? It will destroy our intimacy with God and our spouse! Living the porn again[8] cycle is an affront to being born again – born again by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ!
Job invites the microscope to be used on with his thought life and then continues with the next area of dishonesty or more broadly, fact checking his words in verses 5-8! “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit; (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) If my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow and another eat.” In other words, Job was saying he welcomed the consequence of being unproductive and hungry if he was dishonest. Job saw the natural consequences of lying – a lack of productivity and a lack of sustenance. You lie, you most likely lead to you losing your job. If not today, in the future, when it all comes out. And if you lose your job, you don’t eat. Interestingly, the first lie we humans ever believed had to do with eating forbidden fruit. Are we willing to live with the consequences of dishonesty? I must remind you: losing your integrity and reputation for honesty is often hard to recover from.
The next area of investigation was Job’s sex life and whether he had committed adultery as seen in verses 9-12. This area is the most shocking. Job makes some outlandish and even unthinkable statements. Job said in verse 9 that if he was enticed to cheat, then his wife should grind or serve (NIV) another and bow down or sleep (NIV) with another. If Job was under the Hebrew law and he committed adultery, it would have meant stoning for him first and then his wife would be stoned for committing adultery with the man Job was passing her onto. Adultery was a capital crime because it literally has to deal with blood and breaking blood lines. It is one of the most serious crimes against God and our families. Verses 11-12 makes this clear, “For what a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root of all my increase.” Job was essentially saying, “A one night stand should cause me to lose all I gained through my years of working.” It is not worth it. Maybe you are on the verge of destroying your life through sex? You about to let the flames of desire escape the fireplace in your marriage and burn your house down. God wants to bring you back from the brink of destruction. Don’t do it. Don’t misunderstand. I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ! “Job was not actually trying to exploit his wife or thought his wife would find love again in the arms of another. He was so confident of his innocence that he expresses what would be the most humiliating punishment for a man in the ancient world to endure.”[9] “He knows of no worse humiliation than disgrace to his wife; for a woman of his household to be shamed would have been the worst blow his own honour could suffer.”[10] Job would never call a curse on himself or his wife unless he believed he was absolutely innocent. To push one’s spouse to another’s bed shows contempt for one’s own body. Does not Ephesians 5:28 say, “In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself”? Are we willing to live with the consequences of adultery and the horrible devastation it causes us in losing our spouse, kids and friendships we have and most of all, our closeness with the Lord?
Job welcomed the investigation into his thoughts, his words, and his bedroom (a place that 55 years ago Prime Minister Elliot Trudeau[11] said the state had no place being because he himself was sleeping around.[12] Funny, actually not so funny, how the state has interfered more with the bedrooms of Canadians ever since, redefining marriage, making other deviant sexual practices a state of pride and then trying to mitigate the consequences of sexual immorality through abortion. Isn’t it ironic that the current prime minister and son of the first Trudeau in power is now speaking into sex lives of other countries’ citizens and their striking down abortion laws?) The next area of investigation Job welcomed was oppression in verses 13-15. Long before we had our current labour laws, Job cared for his employees. He did not oppress them! He did not traffic them. Look at verses 13-14, “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what shall I do when God rises up?” Job knew he was accountable before God for his employees. Such accountability is better than accountability to our shareholders or clients. Imagine you wake up tomorrow and first thing you do when you are commuting to work is acknowledge, “God, You are my boss and I work for You today.” You don’t even need to put on your vehicle that “Your boss is a Jewish carpenter!” Just pray it before work, during work and even after work as you hand your employees and co-workers back to God, especially when you encounter trouble at work. Do you seek God for wisdom at work? I believe this would help us treat the workers God created and put beside you in loving and right ways. What a difference that would make. Are we willing to live with the consequences of oppression? Your work life will suffer greatly if we try to dominate rather than serve our co-workers!
The next area is our financial life, particularly our stinginess or miserliness (v. 16-23). This is a lack of generosity! It is being tight-fisted! Look at verse 16, “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail.” Causing the eyes of the widow to fail means to cause her to “lose her desire for living.”[13] We can so discourage people when they are in need and we have the resources to help them and they know it. We could just call it selfishness rolled up by greed like a joint at a Cannabis shop. It blows smoke in our neighbours’ eyes. My friends, are we willing to live with the consequences of miserliness and not helping the poor and needy? To be Scrooges? Think about how crime increases because we do not care for those in need so they feel they have no other choice but to steal. Sure, they are still responsible for their actions, but what preventative actions are we taking besides our cameras, alarms and security systems. The food bank is down 40% in donations over last year and has increased in serving another 200 families more a month. They now serve 1000 families/month in our city. You can donate to them. Better yet, serve at the Food Bank and other agencies caring for the poor. Stop at our Connect desk after the service and we will have somebody contact you and direct to you a way you can help.
Lust, dishonesty, oppression, and miserliness are areas of Job’s life that he welcomed inspection. There was also avarice as he describes in verse 24, “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence.” Are we willing to live with the consequences of trusting in the security of our savings and retirement investments? The economy is so unstable. This is no place to put our confidence. Our confidence has to be in the Lord, not in our net worth.
Avarice is a type of idolatry as it seeks to find security and comfort in our resources. Job expands upon this by welcoming an inspection not only into his finances but also his religious or spiritual life. Money and religion are often closely related. When Job states in verse 26, “If I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed,” he wasn’t concerned that he was going to become addicted to astronomy. He was worried about becoming a sun or moon worshipper. This is why he says in verse 27, “…and my mouth has kissed my hand.” To “kiss the sun” was to worship a god.[14] These is made clear in verse 28, “This also would be punished by judges, for I would have been false to God above.” Are we willing to live with the consequences of worshipping other gods? They will enslave us.
So far Job has welcomed inspection into his thought life, his speaking life, his sex life, his work life, his financial life, and his religious life. Next Job welcomes inspection into his hospitality life. Look at verses 31-32, “If the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat? (The sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler).” We could call this the sin of parsimony. Maybe we are trying to live pure, watch what we say, be good employees, manage the money God has entrusted to us and are committed to church, but we have failed to be hospitable. Are we going to live with the consequences of not being hospitable and missing out on being enriched by others in our lives? Haven’t we learned yet the terrible outcomes of loneliness these past two years? Loneliness doesn’t necessarily cause mental illness, but as Pastor Louie Giglio, who struggled with a mental breakdown, says, “Loneliness acts as a vice-grip for mental illness.”[15] Louie’s transparency has helped many. Just being hospitable and telling people they are not alone and Jesus can bring light to darkness may save a life. Remember, when Jesus was dying on a cross, one of His closest friends was committing suicide.[16] Jesus cares and died for all sins including suicide. Are we really willing to live with the consequences of not caring for others? We are commanded to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13). When are you going to invite your neighbours over this summer?
Job has been an open book and welcomed a thorough investigation into his life. But we all have blind spots. This is why in verses 33-34, he invites the commission’s CSI unit into the deep corners of his life, “if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silent and did not go out of doors.” Job wants to be checked even to his motivations, particularly whether he was a people pleaser or lived in fear that he would not go outside. Maybe that describes some of you still living in fear of COVID? Be of good courage! God is with you! For others, are you willing to live with the consequences of trying to please people and actually never pleasing them? We can only please one person and that is God! And we please God by trusting Him (Hebrews 11:6). And for others of us, are you willing to live with the consequences of not dealing with the messiness of people’s lives and confronting sin? Of becoming a recluse? Isolation is no way to live!
Lastly, Job invites inspection into his environmental life. Look at verses 38-39, “If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last, let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” Job was concerned about exploiting his environment and particularly harming his neighbour and their property. According to Genesis 1:26, God’s first task for us human beings was to care for and take dominion over the earth. Are we going to continue to live with the consequences of not taking care of our environment and neighbours? But what if we are not like Guy Paul Morin and Job? What if we are guilty and paying the consequences? I want to remind us that Jesus became a curse for us when we were cursed. Galatians 3:13 reminds us of God’s mercy, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” The Communion Table is a reminder of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Cross. The Communion Table is a place to find help when we can’t deal with the consequences of our sins. Our sins require too great a consequence to bear. Right now, as we sing “I Need Thee” would you please take the time to not only pause and ask yourself whether you are willing to live with the consequences of your actions but confess those sinful actions to God?
[1] Source: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/202077E. Accessed June 23, 2022.
[2] Quote from my wife Lori Stairs
[3] A great overview of Job can be found at Tim Mackie and Jon Collins, Job – The Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/job/. Accessed February 11, 2022.
[4] Francis I. Anderson, Job – An Introduction & Commentary (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1976), 238.
[5] J. Vernon McGee, Job – Thru the Bible Commentary Series (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 150.
[6] editor James M. Renihan & author C.H. Spurgeon, Daily Treasure – 366 Daily Readings from The Treasury of David (Leyland: EP Books, 2021), 187
[7] Mike Mason, The Gospel According to Job (Wheaton: Crossway, 1994), 317.
[8] I am borrowing the title of Mark Driscoll’s book Porn Again Christian (Mars Hill Church, 2009).
[9] Daniel J. Estes, Job – Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2013), 189.
[10] David J.A. Clines, Job 21-32 – Word Biblical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 1018.
[11] Source Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1811727781. Accessed June 24, 2022.
[12] This is well documented: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/pierre-trudeau-and-his-many-women/article791993/. Accessed June 26, 2022.
[13] Clines, 965.
[14] Anderson, 243.
[15] Louie Giglio, “I’m Not Okay … But Jesus Is” sermon, https://youtu.be/kg2BoUjtvY0, 2020.
[16] Ibid.
Forget the Gym, Your Father Makes You Strong
Posted: June 19, 2022 Filed under: Belief, faith, Family, Fathers, Jesus, Prayer Leave a commentI praise and thank God for Emmanuel Baptist Church, Chatham. It was 1979 when my father, Dr. Phil Stairs, and mother, Lelia, who is here today along with most of my family, sensed the call to become the Senior Pastor at Emmanuel. (I find it interesting that my father would have been 81 years old today if he weren’t now home with the Lord and I have the privilege of preaching at a church he served the longest in his 50+ years of ministry.) Thanks for taking a chance on a family from the Maritimes. We moved from Halifax to come to Chatham. I was 5 at the time and for the next 13 years, from Kindergarten at McNaughton Avenue Public School to graduating from Chatham-Kent Secondary School, I enjoyed living in Chatham. Some of my fondest memories in life are from my days in Chatham. Whether it was playing hockey at Northside Arena or playing baseball at what is now Fergie Jenkins field or running track at The Pines. I can’t help to also think about my first job at age 11 when I corn detasseled working for the Gleason’s. It was over 40 degrees Celsius my first day in the corn and I wanted to quit so badly, but I learned perseverance here in Chatham. Emmanuel’s Christian Service Brigade and youth group were also incredibly formative for me as I watched my peers and the classes come after me create a pipeline of pastors. You built into me Emmanuel and I would not be the man or pastor I am today without you. Most importantly, it was at Emmanuel in Mrs. Donna Waggot’s Sunday School class on Easter Sunday 1979, that I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Three years later at age 8, I was baptized. Later on at age 17, it was you who encouraged and affirmed me to pursue becoming a pastor. I praise and thank God for Emmanuel Baptist Church. I want to remind you of the impact you have made and more importantly, I want to remind you that like your namesake, Emmanuel, God is with you! This is why when Eric Van Kestern invited me to preach, I jumped at the chance. It’s always good to thank people for the investment they have made in you. I hope you do that today.
However, I didn’t come to just take you on a trip down memory lane. I came to pray for and with you. What is my prayer for you? My prayer is found in Ephesians 3:14-21! We are going to read that passage in just a moment, but from it comes my prayer for you. My prayer and hope for you is that you would be strengthened by God the Father’s love so that you would be full of Him in your life. On this Father’s Day, whether you are a father or were just created by a father (which is true of all of us). I hope you will be strengthened by the Father’s love and become full of God. What do I mean by being full of God? To be full of God is to be full of His nature and character and that it would overflow to others as we abide in Him. This is true for both the married and single, the young and old, fathers or sons and daughters. Anybody admit to needing more strength? Sure you can go to Planet Fitness, Fit4Less or Performance 360 or some other local or home gym to grow your physical muscles, but there is an inner strength that can only be found in God. Some of us hit the weights hard these past two years when we were stuck at home. Others of us hit the comfort food hard. My belly shows it! But exercise alone won’t save us. I know of one pastor who let Crossfit become an obsession and became ripped while at the same time, his family got ripped apart because of his neglect and not prioritizing them. He lost his family and ministry because he sought a lesser strength. We need an inner strength first. Let’s read Ephesians 3:14-21 and then pray for God to strengthen us right now! Read Ephesians 3:14-21!
How do we get internally strong? The first exercise you and I must do to get internally strong is: 1)Bow your knees before God the Father! (v. 14-15) – Think about that! An external action of what would be considered weakness – getting down on our knees – actually makes internally strong. This is what we read in Ephesians 3:14-15, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” Think about that for a moment. Here we have the Apostle Paul, a guy who used to hate the Church and tried to kill them and now is actually suffering for them. You see, we always need to read things in context meaning the verses that lead up to the verse we are studying. That is a rule whenever we read Scripture and we are pointed to this by Paul’s statement “For this reason,” in verse 14. So for what reason? We could go all the way back to when Paul started in writing his letter to the Ephesians but let’s first focus on Ephesians 3:7-13, “7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of His power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” So at one time, Paul felt powerless. Though he was in authority and hunting Christians, he could not stop them. In fact, Jesus stopped him. On the road to Damascus to jail and execute Christians, Paul was blinded by a light and vision of Jesus. Paul fell to the ground, surrendered to Jesus and became an apostle and missionary to the Gentiles. His gospel empowered ministry was started on his knees (Acts 9:4-8). It was God’s grace and His gospel that gave Paul power. And it was this grace that Paul was encouraging the Ephesian believers not to lose hope. And it is that same power of God we need. Maybe you have lost hope these past couple of years? They have been rough. Covid! Isolation! Cancer! War! Death! I think of our beloved Chief Ranger Barry Rowe who made such an impact on us, including myself. We see others suffering and we suffer ourselves and we all feel loss. We don’t feel strong. And this is why we must pray.
And this is why we must bow our knees before God the Father. But that is strange if you think about. How many of you kids or even adults bowed your knee before your fathers today? I bet some of you did some nice things for your dad today or plan to later, but bowing was not one of them. Montreal Church planter Dustin Moreland asks, “Why should we bow before God the Father? Because our Heavenly Father is also the King of the universe.”[1] We bow because our daddy is King! Bowing before your father it is not so strange if your father is a king. Maybe you have seen this on shows like The Crown or Victoria. Royals and heirs to the throne actually bow or curtsy before their parental monarch. We bow because our Abba Father is the King of the universe! This gives us great hope! He is in charge. He is sovereign!
But it begs the question, is God your Father? You won’t bow unless He is. The only way
for God to become your father is if Jesus is your brother, Saviour and Lord. Jesus can become our brother, Saviour and Lord if we hear the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believe in Him and then become sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as Ephesians 1:13 declares. I can’t think of a better day than today, Father’s Day, to become an adopted child of the Heavenly Father. Trust in Jesus today and you will belong to God the Father’s forever family. Jesus will come into your heart and dwell there as Ephesians 3:17 promises. “The verb ‘dwell,’ literally means ‘to settle down and feel at home.’”[2] Jesus will be at home in your life.
There is no second chance. There is no purgatory. We see this clearly in Ephesians 3:14!
God is the Father of all those in earth and in heaven. This refutes our Catholic friend’s doctrine of purgatory where it is taught some souls are between heaven and earth – up for grabs.[3] No, we are either in heaven or on earth. That is the only two choices! There is only one family of God. God’s forever family! Those in heaven and those on earth. “Holy angels and men, are one holy family joined under the one Father in Christ.”[4] Bow your knees before God the Father in heaven. Maybe you have lost that practice? Bowing is a great posture in prayer as it conveys that you acknowledge who God is in your life – He is your King. I can’t bow for long anymore. Too many sports injuries. But I have a kneeling bench that helps me. Our bowing conveys with our bodies what our hearts are already doing – submitting to God as king!
How do we become internally strong? We get internally strong by bowing our knees before God the Father! In one word (remember this), bowing! But not only by bowing our knees before God the Father! We also get internally strong if we commit to a second exercise: 2) Comprehend the massive love of Christ (v. 16-19). This is the second exercise to becoming internally strong – comprehend the massive love of Christ. Look at Ephesians 3:16-19 again, “That according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” God gives us His strength to comprehend the massive love of His Son Jesus Christ. We live in a time when our economy is changing. Inflation is increasing at an alarming rate. Housing prices have soared. I’m guessing some of you are new to Chatham because you cashed out from where you were living and now work here remotely or are retired. Some of you may feel rich and some of you may feel poor. But though your feelings are legitimate, they are not your best indicator. The reality is that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and belong to God’s forever family, you are super-rich, even if your bank account doesn’t show it. Why? Because you have the riches of God’s glory. And those riches not only will take care of your earthly needs, but your internal strength. We need that internal strength, especially in uncertain times. Internal strength is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is Christ’s Spirit who lives inside each of us believers. We “Believers, while on earth, do not experience Christ except as Spirit and do not experience the Spirit except as Christ.”[5] They are two distinct persons, but work together perfectly. Their best work is what they are doing in our hearts, souls and minds. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are our workout partners in life! They know exactly when to push us to lift more than we ever thought we could as they lift the heavier burden (Matthew 11:28). They also know when to call us to rest (Matthew 11:29-30). They will spot us! This is why our prayers need to be more focused on the internal than the external. The late pastor Warren Wiersbe taught, “Too many of our prayers focus only on the physical or material needs and fail to lay hold of the deeper inner needs of the heart.”[6] I dare you to start praying for God to change your heart. To change your heart about that person who hurt you! To change your heart about the injustice of that lost job! To change your heart about being more generous with your time and money. To change your heart so that God’s love would drive out fear (1 John 4:18)! To change your heart so you judge less and love more. To change your hearts that you would give second chances. To change your hearts to be less preachy and be more teachable. To change your heart from lust to caring for the lost! This is how we become internally strong! We comprehend the massive love of Christ!
It’s massive, but starts small like the plants we recently put into our gardens – rooted and grounded. But it grows! It grows in breadth, length, height and depth. One scholar puts it this way, “The ‘breadth’ implies Christ’s world-wide love, embracing all men: the ‘length,’ it implies being extended through all ages (Ephesians 3:21); the ‘depth,’ describes how love gives wisdom which no creature can fathom (Romans 11:33); the ‘height,’ promises love is beyond the reach of any foe who may try to deprive us (Ephesians 4:8). Therefore, this massive and unending love provides the whole of the vast mystery of free salvation in Christ for all, Gentile and Jew alike.”[7] Once planted, God’s love continually needs to be nourished. And we do that as we read God’s Word and put it into action in our homes, schools, workplaces and community.
But remember God never runs out of fertilizer for His love. It is so massive that I wouldn’t believe we could comprehend unless it was promised here in the Bible. In fact, the word that is translated comprehend means “to grasp.”[8] It could be translated, “apprehend.” “A deep encounter with God will enable us to ‘apprehend’ (get hold of) His great love for us, which will result in our being ‘filled with all the fullness of God.’”[9] Anybody here been apprehended? That is what I thought – nobody! I have been apprehended. In fact, I have been apprehended in this very church parking lot and right after youth group. I vividly recall some of my friends had just got back from Florida and had brought back illegal firecrackers. They decided to light them off right after youth group. This was back in the day when youth group was after the evening church service and we were still wearing our Sunday suits. Black cat firecrackers were being set off as fast as my friends could light them. And flying into the parking lot, came a cop car and the cop jumped out of the car and told us all to freeze. We were all told to put our hands on the cop car and we each got frisked. One of my other friends said it caused a laundry problem for him. The firecrackers were confiscated and we were free to go, except for the guilt of having to inform our parents.
I definitely want to be apprehended by something better than a cop (no offence Eric). I want to be apprehended by the love of Christ. His love has us firmly in His grasp. His love cleans us up and frees us from any guilt we may have. Therefore, spend your time comprehending the massive love of Christ for you. The best way to do that is to reflect on the Cross of Christ and His resurrection. This is what will make you full. His fullness is better than anything else you can fill your life with. “The fullness of God is best explained as His presence and power, His life and rule.”[10] Don’t we want that?
The first exercise to be internally strengthened is to what? Bow our knees before the Father! The second exercise to be internally strengthened is to what? Comprehend the massive love of Christ! However, there is a third exercise to become internally strong is 3) Believe God to do the unimaginable (v. 20-21).Look at Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen!” Lots of people are looking for power inside themselves. At my wife’s workplace, they had a Staff huddle before a big weekend. The boss said maybe we need a prayer or a cheer. One of her coworkers said, “Let’s do a power pose.” Power poses do not compare to power prayers. It is through prayer that God does far beyond whatever we ask or think. I’ve seen this first hand so many times. One happened just this past Thursday. I heard a story. The story was about Eldon Austin. Eldon and the Austin family invited a neighbor kid to church. That kid’s name was Keith Miles. Keith refused at the time to come to church or Christian Service Brigade, but Keith watched the Austin’s. Keith eventually came to faith in Christ after moving away from Chatham and this past Thursday, I prayed with Keith in our church’s Men’s prayer group. God has used you Emmanuel.
Emmanuel, I praise God for you! God is with you! Dream again! He can do for you beyond whatever you ask or imagine. But it won’t unless we seek God. This is why is would be wrong of us to just talk about prayer. We need to actually pray – bow, comprehend and believe. Our motivation is Jesus. Jesus bowed before the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. His massive love on the Cross was seen by His outstretched body – the breadth, height, length and depth of His love. And by doing so, Jesus went beyond we could ever ask for or imagine. So let’s pray! Permit me teach something about praying together as a church. A few years ago, I learned from Daniel Henderson the ABC’s of Public Prayer – pray Aloud (so everybody can hear you), Briefly (so everybody can pray) and Clearly (so everybody can understand you.)[11] And so let’s take just a couple minutes to prayer together by finishing a few of prayers:
- Father, we bow before You because …
- Father, since our families comes from You, strengthen _______________
- Father, through Jesus we come asking You to name something that seems impossible right now in your life
[1] Dustin Moreland, “We Can Rest Because We Are Adopted” Sermon, FEBCentral Pastor’s Conference, Muskoka Bible Centre, June 8, 2022.
[2] Wiersbe, 32.
[3] This insight was brought to my attention by Dr. Wayne Baxter.
[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 348). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[5] Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC) (Dallas: Word Books, 1990), 206.
[6] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989, 31.
[7] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 348). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[8] Wiersbe, 33.
[9] Wiersbe, 31.
[10] Lincoln, 214.
[11] Daniel Henderson, Old Paths, New Power (Chicago: Moody Press, 2016), 127.
Love God, Connect with Others, Serve the Community
Posted: June 5, 2022 Filed under: Community, Connect, God, Jesus, Love, Neighbour, Service, Small Groups Leave a commentIf you were to hear the phrase “For the love of God,” what comes to mind? Does it sound like someone fed up with life and its people or someone who filled up with love for people? A lot of people are fed up nowadays, I want to tell you about a group of people who were filled up with up with the love of God and hopefully this will inspire us to be filled with a love for God and people.
“It was 1955. Eleven people had a vision to start a new Bible-believing church in the town of Preston, Ontario, which along with the villages of Hespeler and Galt later formed Cambridge. It was in April of that year that they met to make future plans. They took a leap of faith and church meetings were held in the home of the founding members. On May 31, 1955, this small group of believers met to adopt the Statement of Faith of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada and elected their first officers. These founding members purchased a property with a ten-lot frontage on Dunbar Road, St. George and Pine Streets. How many of you remember attending that location? This demanded great sacrificial giving on their part … time, money and labour. On June 26, 1955, there was a sod-turning ceremony. In that same year on November 30, the official opening of the building took place. The 11 am service was preceded by a ribbon-cutting ceremony with their newly appointed pastor, Rev. Norman Rowan.”[1] The initial advertisement in the newspaper read: “Built to the glory of God and the service of this community. Where welcome is more than a word.” You may have seen that on the table with some mementos from our past. Right now we declare all heaven and earth to hear that this new building we dedicate for the glory of God and the service of this community and that we welcome all to know Christ. Our foundation on Jesus Christ has not changed since 1955!
Now, we learn a few things from Temple’s story of origin. Temple has always been driven by the gospel, we’re quick to move ahead for a grander future and we’re willing to boldly sacrifice to see that vision become reality. In our church DNA, there is a desire for people to know Jesus and we will change quickly to fulfill that desire. This has been my experience this last decade as I’ve had the honour of being one of your pastors. But think about that again. It took 6 months to go from the birth of the church to a building for the church! Can you imagine how quickly that all came together? That was a miracle! The recreation of our present property is another miracle, but it took nearly ten years despite all the flexibility you have shown through change and Covid. When I came in 2012, we had been in decline and knew we needed to change or we would die. Frankly, we were like what historian John Dickson says about the church, “The Church is Far Better and Far Worse than You Ever Imagined.”[2] When I was interviewed to come here, I asked what Temple was known for in the community and I was told we were either unknown or known for the wrong things. We were in debt, hemorrhaging $85,000 a year from our Academy and we were under a lawsuit for abuse of some children by one of our former leaders. And yet, we had to put our hope in God because He had always been an ever-present help in times of trouble. Some of you on the leadership team may recall prayerfully walking around our property on what we called Dream Days. We would walk this property praying and seeking God what we must to do change us in order to follow Him and recover our heart for our community with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Four years later, we met with our architect Glenn Reinders to help us determine what our vision was for the building. We knew we wanted to build a community centre for Christ. We knew that we needed to be more transparent to let in the Light of God in and to show we are not hiding anything. This is why we have windows everywhere. We surveyed our church members. We surveyed the community and came to the conclusion that the greatest need in our community is to alleviate relationship poverty. You see, we are all relationally poor to God and to each other. And this must change! And we are starting to see it change every time people meet in our playgrounds or in The Hub or be a part of one of our small groups.
In order for us to alleviate relationship poverty, we need to follow two rules. These two rules come from the Bible and form our core values here to Love, Connect and Serve. We can find these rules in Matthew 22:34-40 where Jesus answers a question from a lawyer. Now before I even read these two rules or commandments, some of you here might be thinking, I knew it – Church is all about the rules. Actually, that is not true! The rules only come out of a relationship with God. With God, it is the relationship that forms the rules. And that is also true in your family as well. Every one of you when you came out of the womb, were not given a list of rules before your mother and father held you and kissed you and fed you and cleaned up the mess you left in your diapers. You were loved before you got the law. The relationship came before the rules. The rules are only in place to protect the relationship and promote harmony within the family. At least, that is how it should be. The problem is that many times the rules come before the relationships. Teachers and coaches often go over the rules long before they establish a relationship with you. But God is different! He has been relational from the beginning. You come from and belong to Him as the signs in our Prayer Garden say. God made the world and He walked with our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden before He gave them the rules. And when God did make a rule, He only gave one of them – don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And it was this rule that broke our relationship with God. And every one of us since has disobeyed God and paid the price of that broken relationship.
And so this is where we have come from as a church, but more importantly, as a human race. So let’s read what the two rules are now and how we can be filled with love for God and people. Read Matthew 22:34-40!
Now whenever we read anything, especially the Bible, we need to read it in context. What happened just before this exchange between Jesus and the Lawyer? In Matthew 22:23-33, some religious leaders, called the Sadducees, tried to trick Jesus with a question about a wife who kept losing more husbands than Elizabeth Taylor or the Kardashians and they wanted to know whose wife the woman would be to her husbands in the resurrection. However, the Sadducees key platform of their theology was they did not believe in a resurrection. (As has been said on many occasions, this is why the Sadducees were “sad, you see?”) Jesus told the Sadducees that they didn’t know the Bible or the power of God (v. 29). Do we? There will be something greater than marriage in the new heavens and new earth when the resurrection occurs and that is a relationship with the living God. This silenced Jesus’ critics and astonished His followers. It is why we started our service by singing and reminding ourselves that there ain’t no grave that can hold our bodies down because Jesus’ body wasn’t held down and He rose from the grave. We most definitely believe in a resurrection here!
So then another sect of religious leaders decided to send in their hotshot lawyer, which was the exchange we just read from Matthew 22:34-40. The lawyer seems to be disingenuous. He was there to test Jesus, not trust in Jesus! And yet, Jesus still answered the lawyer’s question, I think in part, for all those who heard the exchange, including us here today. The question that the lawyer asked was this, “What is the great commandment in the Law?” Now, this would be the Old Testament Law handed down from Moses. Maybe the lawyer wanted to know what the rule is that will keep us all in line for the future? There once was a rule – don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil – now what is the rule? It’s a hard question. But not for Jesus! Jesus answers the lawyer’s question by bringing us back to a relationship with God. This is the path for us today too! The first step in the pathway is: 1) Love God with your whole being. (v. 37) This is what we read in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” We are to love God with our whole being. “Not even the smallest corner of our lives should be closed off to God.”[3] Let’s think about those corners of our lives that Jesus breaks down. There is the heart which means our will and decision-making ability. There is the soul from which we get the word psyche. This has a lot to do with our emotions. And then there is the mind or our intelligence. If we are loving God, often it is one of those that takes prominence. Some of us love God with our hearts in that we make decisions to follow Jesus. Some of us love God with our emotions. We may come to church to get the feels. There is nothing wrong about that as long as this is not the only reason to come to church or the only way to connect with God. In fact, our current series in the study of the Book of Job has been an effort to love God more with our emotions while at the same time loving God with our hearts and minds during difficult times. And then there is loving God with our mind. We may love to have our minds stretched through the study of God’s Word and or theology. Again, this is a good thing. We just need to love God fully with all our heart, all our soul and with all our mind. We can grow in our love for God through prayer, worship and study of God’s Word. And of course, such love will produce bodily action or strength. And this leads us to the next step in our path of gaining a love for God and people. Yes, we are to love God, but it not just a Jesus and me private relationship. Our love for God is always meant to spill over to love for others. Love for God never stays contained in this little individual cup of love that only benefits me. It always overflows into love for those around us! It is Jesus, others and you! So what does this mean? Well, I was always taught by my dad, “To love somebody is to do what is best for them.” This is more than just giving your kids awful-tasting medicine. It’s telling them the truth when no one else will despite them being made at you for it. Loving others should work itself out at home, work, school and in our neighbourhoods. “If the nature of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is always about the other, then it seems that who we are in our jobs and at home should ultimately reflect this nature.”[4] Therefore, it is a choice to love God because we are like God and so the next step in our pathway with God is to …
2) Connect with others with a love you have for yourself. (v. 39) Look at Matthew 22:39 and what Jesus said, “And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” Jesus actually went beyond the man’s question. Did you notice that the lawyer asked in verse 36, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” But Jesus went beyond and added the second greatest commandment. Listen to me carefully! Jesus doesn’t make things easier, but makes things harder and grounded His ethics in real life. Why does Jesus make things harder? Because He wants us to know that we do not have the power to obey God in ourselves or the power to love others as we should. We must rely on God to love others. And He will supply all that we lack! 1 John 4:7 commands and gives us this promise, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” God is the creator of love. He is the source of love. He is like a deep and unending well of love. He also defines love and therefore it is incorrect to say “love is love.” Our society would have us believe that we can define what we think is love, particularly romantic or sexual love. However, “parent-child love is not romantic or sexual and yet we all agree that it is love.”[5] We need to define love. Again, “To love somebody is to do what is best for them.” If you are trying to consume the other person, or use that for your own gratification, then that is not love. Let’s look at this at from a different angle – the lens from which we love ourselves. I recognize that we are being taught in our society that we need to love ourselves more, but I don’t think that is the problem. There is a difference between loving others and self-love. We are to love our neighbour as yourself; not emphasis a love for yourself! The focus is on the neighbour, not us! Loving ourselves is pretty much automatic unless one has deep psychosis and hates themselves. Loving others doesn’t negate self-care, but it does negate putting yourself first. There is a transformation from self to others. Think about all the ways you love and serve yourself. You feed yourself! You clothe yourself! You entertain or comfort yourself! You work for yourself. These are the areas that you could connect with others with a love you have for yourself. In feeding yourself, maybe you could share a meal with your neighbour? You will want to study up on cultural customs, particularly in regard to food. Provide Muslims Halal food. Provide Jews Kosher food. Provide Hindus a vegetarian option. It is good practice to ask, “Do you have any food allergies or aversions?” This will show love and forethought for your neighbour. Another way to love your neighbour as yourself is clothing yourself. In clothing yourself, maybe when you buy clothes for yourself you set aside some money for clothes for somebody in need in our community or around the world? In entertaining or comforting yourself, maybe you go to the movies, a festival or to a musical here in town together with your neighbour? Maybe you join a sports league or gym together? Maybe you go to the local swimming pool or Shades Mills Conversation Area for a swim together? Use your play time to show the love of God. Of course, we must be culturally sensitive in all these areas, but the point is when we are doing something for ourselves, do it also for our neighbours. Maybe your neighbour is going through a hard time and you could show care for them? One of the specific ways that you can love your neighbour as yourself is to serve your neighbour, especially new Canadians. Toronto and the world has come to Cambridge and we have an opportunity to make disciples of all nations without getting jet leg or paying thousands of dollars in airfare. Let’s not waste this opportunity. Many of our new Canadian neighbours are suffering from the injustice of coming to Canada and being under-employed. This means that they either can’t find a job or are having to work a job that is beneath their training. Maybe we can help them with that? Or something else that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do? And I would be remiss to say that the greatest thing you could do for yourself and your neighbour is share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them and help them become a part of a church family. Connect with others with a love you have for yourself. And when we love God and connect with others, we will together take the next step on this pathway…
3) Serve the community because the truth hangs on our love. (v. 40) When I say “our love,” I mean God’s love and our love. I’ll say it again: God is the creator of love. He is the source of love. He is like a deep and unending well of love. And He is also the source of truth. Truth and love are not at odds. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 22:40, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” The late great Anglican Pastor John Stott wrote, “Truth only becomes hard if it is not softened by love; love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.” Let me say that again, “Truth only becomes hard if it is not softened by love; love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.” All the Bible hangs on loving God and loving others. Those were the two rules. So “Love is the basis for obedience.”[6] Love is the motivation for our obedience! I once heard a preacher said, “Love with truth is hypocrisy and truth without love is brutality.” Love makes truth actionable! The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:2, “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” The truth will often not be heard unless it is matched by our love. One of the reasons we built this new space is to serve the community, not to impress it. And we want to serve the community because they are worth loving. God thinks so! And this is where the truth comes in. We have come from a place of brokenness and need to move to a place of wholeness. This is so redemptive and a picture of the new heavens and new earth that Jesus described about the resurrection in his dealing with the Sadducees. Rebekah McLaughlin says, “Heaven is not primarily a place. It is shorthand for the full blessing of relationship with God. It is the prodigal son come home. It is the bride being embraced by her husband with tears of joy. It is the new heaven and new earth, where God’s people with upgraded, resurrection bodies will enjoy eternity with Him at a level of intimacy into which the best marriage gives us no more than a glimpse. Heaven is home: an embodied experience of deep relationship with God and His people on a recreated earth. Hell is the opposite. It is the door shut in the face of the wastrel son, the divorce certificate delivered at the moment of remorse, the criminal receiving His just deserts. If Jesus is the Bread of Life, loss of Jesus means starving. If Jesus is the Light of the World, loss of Jesus means darkness. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, loss of Jesus means wandering alone and lost. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, loss of Jesus is eternal death. And if Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for our sins, loss of Jesus means paying that price for ourselves.” McLaughlin continues by telling this story, “In the classic Russian novel Eugene Onegin, a jaded aristocrat, Onegin, meets an innocent young girl in the countryside. The girl, Tatyana, writes him a letter, offering him her love. Onegin does not reply. When they meet again, he turns her down: the letter was touching, he tells her, but he would soon grow bored of marriage to her. Years later, Onegin, enters a St. Petersburg party and he sees a stunningly beautiful woman. It is Tatyana. But she is now married. Onegin falls in love with her. He tries desperately to win her back. But Tatyana refuses him. Once, the door was open: she offered him her love. Now it is shut. For many of us, it is easy to reject Jesus now. Like Tatyana’s letter to Onegin, his offer is touching. But we believe we will be happier without such a commitment. We worry that He will cramp our style, so we move on with life and leave Him in the spiritual countryside. One day, the Bible warns, we will see Jesus in all His glory, our eyes painfully open to His majesty. We will know in that moment that all our greatest treasures were nothing in comparison to Him and we will bitterly regret that decision. But it will be no more unfair than Tatyana’s rejection of Onegin. If we receive Jesus now, we will live with Him forever in fullness of life we cannot imagine. If we reject Him, He will one day reject us, and we will be eternally devastated. The choice is ours.”[7] Love Him or not! Today, maybe you haven’t loved God? But that can start to change today. Jesus wants to come into your life and fill you with God’s love. This can happen if you choose to trust in Christ and believe in Him. To believe in someone is one of the most loving things one can do. As we sing “O Come to the Altar” if you need to stand up and declare that you want to trust in Christ, then please do so. We also ask that you take one of these Connect Cards in the chair in front of you and fill it out and bring it to the Connect Desk so we can follow-up with you. There is also a spot on the card for you indicate your interest in being baptized to show you are all in with Christ. Or maybe you want to connect with others and become a member of our church or a member of a small group, you can also indicate that on our Connect Card. Or maybe today you want to take a step to serve our community. We have specific ways to help you so. Please fill out one of the Serve Cards in front of you and take it to the Connect desk after the service. All these specific actions can be summarized in our Action Point this week: love God by sharing the love of Jesus with them.
[1] Adapted from “The Temple Story – 1955-2015.”
[2] This is the subtitle of Natasha Moore & John Dickson’s book For the Love of God: How the Church is Far Better and Far Worse than You Ever Imagined (North Sydney: Centre for Public Christianity, 2019).
[3] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Columbus: The Wartburg Press, 1943), 881.
[4] John Van Sloten, Every Job a Parable, (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2017), 67.
[5] Rebecca McLaughlin, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity (Wheaton: Crossway, 2021, 115.
[6] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Volume 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 81.
[7] Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 218-219.
Commissional 