In an article last week in The New York Times(March 15, 2106), David Brooks wrote of the way a ‘shame culture’ is replacing a ‘guilt culture’. ‘In a guilt culture’, he writes, ‘people sometimes feel they do bad things; in a shame culture social exclusion makes people feel they are bad’.
Paul the Apostle, in his Letter to the Ephesians sees a deeper problem within us: You were dead through the trespasses and sins2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else (Ephesians 2:1-3).
Our first response to this may be to think he is writing nonsense. We only have to observe the vigorous bodies of athletes, the agile minds of scholars and the charismatic attraction and perfect teeth of celebrities. How can he say that people are dead?
Clearly he sees life from a perspective we usually overlook – the issue of our soul. We all know that we are much more than the sum of our parts, that there is a spiritual dimension to our lives. When it comes to the real issue of life, Paul is saying that having a perfect body or a brilliant mind or the most charismatic personality will not help us. We have a soul problem.
And he tells us why we are spiritually dead: it is because of our trespasses and sins. Trespass is a false step, involving either the crossing of a known boundary or stepping away from the right path. Sin is missing the mark, falling short of a standard.
Trespass and sin highlight our predicament. We have done what we ought not to have done, and we have not done what we ought to have done.
CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE
Here in a sentence is the irony of our human state. Created in God’s image for relationship with him, we choose to live without him. God wants to give life and to love the life he has given. We, also having the capacity to love, turn our love away from the very God who has given us this gift. And, Paul tells us, this is our condition until the Good Shepherd finds us.
But, because God is who he is, Paul can go on to write: But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us… (2:4).
Paul moves here from speaking about us being condemned by God, to the mercy and love of God. He can hold both together because giving life and love is at the heart of God’s nature.
We need to think about this, for then we will realize that we need to pay careful attention to what disappoints and angers God. Like the Prodigal son in Jesus’ parable, we need to come to our senses and turn back to him and worship him, because his justice and love are perfect.
It is because we fail to recognize the gravity of our true condition that we tend to put our trust in other remedies – better government, better education, better laws, more acts of charity, more equal distribution of wealth. There’s no doubt these things are pleasing to God but they can never rescue us from spiritual death, spiritual captivity, or God’s condemnation.
This doesn’t mean that we should give up on providing better education or working towards a more just society, but the fact is we need a radical remedy – and this is just what God has done. God has given us a message of good news that offers life to the dead, freedom to captives, and forgiveness to the condemned.
These events don’t fit our model of the way the world works, but it doesn’t mean they are false.
Let me encourage you to set aside time this Easter to consider afresh the meaning of the cross and the amnesty God now holds out to us because he is rich in mercy. May you know afresh the hope of forgiveness and new life that God holds out to you – a hope that is grounded in the reality that God raised Jesus from the dead.
It is sometimes said that the Bible teaches that money is evil. That is not so. The Bible tells us it is the love of money that is the problem. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we should view money as our servant, something to be used for service.
In 2 Corinthian 8:7-9 we read: 7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. 8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
In 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 Paul writes of an Appeal he was taking up in Asia to assist impoverished Christians in Judea. At first the Corinthians had responded well to the idea. But they seemed to have forgotten that they had pledged further contributions. They needed reminder.
Part of Paul’s strategy was to point to the generosity of the poorer churches in Macedonia in the north: ‘You don’t want to be outdone by the churches up-state, do you?’ he asks. Many churches in the western world today deserve to be embarrassed when we hear of the generosity of some churches in the emerging world.
GIVING
What Paul writes is a model fund-raising letter as he sets out why God’s people should give.
* Sacrificial giving. Macedonia was an exploited impoverished colony. God’s people there had suffered persecution, often losing jobs and property. Yet instead of using lack of resources as an excuse for reducing their contribution, the Macedonians had increased their giving (8:2-3a).
* Enthusiastic giving. The Macedonians were begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints (8:4). They counted such an opportunity a privilege, literally a ‘grace’. They really believed what the Lord Jesus taught: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.
* Faith-driven giving. In 8:5 Paul tells us that the Macedonians were not just giving money to the church in Jerusalem, they were giving themselves to the Lord. Their genuine concern for others sprang from their own relationship with Jesus Christ. It was because their lives were centered on him that they were motivated to extravagance and cheerfulness in their giving.
* Incarnational Giving! 2 Corinthians 8:9 is sometimes described as the jewel in the crown of Paul’s appeal to give. He speaks of the existence of Christ before his birth – he was rich. From all eternity Christ had been enthroned in the splendor and glory of heaven. Paul speaks of the birth of Christ – he became poor. He took to himself something that in all eternity he had never known – poverty. We also see Christ’s generosity – so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Christ condescended to a monumental humiliation – his lowly birth in Bethlehem and his ignominious death at Calvary – so that he could enrich us. We give, says Paul, because God gave. Anyone who understands what Christ has done cannot help but be generous themselves.
You may want to consider:
1. the context of Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians;
2. the example of the giving of the Macedonians;
3. the impact of verse 9 – we give because of Christ.
There is no such thing as the perfect church. We might long for it, but we won’t find it this side of heaven. The reality is that churches can experience tensions and disagreements amongst their members. Yet church is important. Jesus said, ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). Paul, and Peter too, had every expectation that ‘church’ should be a good experience for us.
RELATIONSHIPS
In Colossians 3:12-17 Paul points to attitudes and actions we need to work at in our relationships, so that instead of walking away, we might find a way to keep the peace. He writes:
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
ATTITUDES
If we are to experience the peace of Christ in our relationships, we need new attitudes. Instead of indifference – compassion and kindness; instead of pride – humility and gentleness; instead of impatience and resentment – patience.
Above all, Paul says: Forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you. Designed by God to love him, we have turned our love inward. However, God is prepared to pardon and deliver us through the death of Jesus Christ, when we turn to him in repentance and faith. Paul is saying, because God is prepared to forgive us, we should be prepared to forgive those who wrong us. Paul knows how easy it is for us to be divided and the corrosive effect of wounded feelings. But he also knows of the one force that can heal, and enable us to grow into maturity – love.
Churches ought to be different from the wider society for they are the one place where the ethics of the kingdom should be evident — love, mercy, and reconciliation rather than revenge or personal retribution. ‘Pray about your attitude towards those who have wronged you’ says Paul. ‘Will you forgive them? Do you care for them? Above all will you love them?’
PRACTICAL ACTION
Keeping the peace doesn’t mean simply sweeping our differences under the carpet or putting on an artificial smile. Paul advises us to act on three principles:
Bible. By coming to the Bible together we can instruct and help one another, and even correct one another (3:16). We need to learn to bring our minds under the direction of the Lord’s mind and the way we do this is by coming to the Bible together. Furthermore, we are to read the Scriptures with wisdom. There is no place for uninformed Bible study, reading into the Bible what we want it to mean. Rather, we need to discover its plain meaning together, text in context.
Music. Most of us think of singing in church as simply a way to praise God. But Paul suggests there is another purpose: instruction and exhortation. We do not have to address God every time we sing, for it’s also important we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It’s one reason we should sing songs that are not insipid or soppy, but strong on Bible. Singing is an important way of building relationships.
Gratitude. Discontent often creates tension and division amongst us. Usually our discontent springs from ingratitude. A thankful heart trusts God in every situation, knowing that the Lord Jesus is in control. Thankful people are usually joy-filled and encouraging people.
You may want to consider:
1.your attitude to someone who has hurt you or someone you resent: is there anything in your life that needs to change? Are you prepared to forgive?
2.the way that Paul puts God’s Word, the Bible, at the heart of our relationship with one another: what lessons can we learn from this?
3.three people / things in your life for which you can thank the Lord.
For many, church is an irrelevant institution filled with self-righteous hypocrites. The Letters of Paul the Apostle paint a very different picture of church – a picture of vitality, community and growth. We see this for example in Paul’s thanksgiving for the church in Colossae.
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit (Colossians 1:1-8).
A NEW COMMUNITY
Thanksgiving. Paul doesn’t thank God that the followers of Jesus in Colossae were ‘religious’. Instead he focuses on three features: their faith, love and hope.
Faith. The Colossians did not just have ‘faith in God’. Their faith was in Christ Jesus who, Paul tells us, enjoys a unique relationship with God the Father. People often say they believe in God, but it is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who supremely reveals God to us.
Love for all the saints. Their faith was not just intellectual, simply giving a mental nod to God. Rather, their relationship with God showed itself in their relationship with one another. They were a new community, the people of God. The love of which Paul spoke is one that binds people of different national and cultural backgrounds into a unique community.
Hope. Paul’s words, because of the hope laid up for us in heaven, are unexpected. There is a causal link between hope and faith and love. Hope is not the outcome of faith and love: it is the cause of it. And this hope is not just Christian optimism. It is the certainty of the coming again of Jesus and the new heaven and earth he will bring. The object of our faith is not yet in our full possession. All this opens up a different dimension of our understanding of life now. It suggests we need to learn to live now in the light of the age to come.
And there is something else: the theme of growth bubbles through Paul’s words. The expansion of Christianity is going on all over the world, Paul says. And, notice his emphasis on the truth.The gospel, he says, is the word of the truth. He could have omitted any reference to truth, but he didn’t.
Paul wanted to stress that the gospel message is true, as someone has commented, in a counter-intuitive sense: the statements it makes about God and men and women are beyond human invention and imagination. It is also true in an historical sense: the eye-witness accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were no fabrication. They are trustworthy. God’s gospel is also true in the experiential sense: when we put our trust in Jesus Christ who is at the center of the gospel message, we discover that our faith is not a hoax but a genuine experience.
Because it was the truth, the church in Colossae had formed and was growing. People there had heard and responded to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in all its truth, preached by pastor Epaphras. And, consistent with what Jesus taught in John 3: God’s Spirit was doing his work of regeneration.
You may want to consider:
the significance of the expression, faith in Jesus Christ, as the focus and meaning of faith;
that the phrase, love for all the saints, implies that faith is not just intellectual or simply the expression of a relationship with God;
Paul’s meaning of hope: it is not a pious ‘hope’ but confidence in the ultimate fulfillment of God’s original promise; we should see life now in the light of the reality that is to come;
the implications of the way that people hear and respond to the gospel – why don’t we work at ways to introduce others to God’s gospel? Why don’t we pray that the Spirit will be at work opening blind eyes to God’s truth?
Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son paints one of the most vivid pictures of the extraordinary riches of God’s grace. In Luke 15 we read:
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:11-24).
MERCY AND HOPE
Our natural inclination is to want to enjoy the good things of life while keeping God at a distance. This is true of the younger son in the story Jesus told. By asking his father for his inheritance ‘now’ he was in fact saying to his father, ‘Dad, I wish you were dead. I want to get on and enjoy life while I’m young and without having to be answerable to you’.
As the story unfolds, this son squanders his inheritance on extravagant parties with good-time friends. Inevitably, he finds himself without money to live on and without friends. In desperation he takes a position feeding pigs.
Reflecting on his plight, he resolved to return home and admit his failure to his father:‘I have sinned before heaven and before you…Take me back as a ‘hired hand’’. He knew he was unworthy to be re-instated as a son.
Like most fathers, this father was aware of what his son was like, and no doubt of what he had done. But he still loved him. He had been watching for his son’s return. News came that he was coming home. Heedless of the scorn he would receive – for in running he was making a public spectacle of himself – the father ran down the road and embraced the black sheep of the family.
Totally overcome by this unexpected welcome, the son said, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Period. The son had planned to add, ‘Treat me as one of your hired servants’. But now he saw that this was not appropriate.
REPENTANCE
Repentance. He realized now that he’d never really known his father and that he had not understood what it was to have been his father’s son. His father loved him beyond measure. His father was prepared to do for him what he had not expected and certainly did not deserve. His father had given himself publicly, humiliatingly, for his sake.
Jesus wanted his hearers, and each of us, to understand that the father is like God. God has given most of us many good things to enjoy, but we, like the son, have become so preoccupied with the good things of life and our own lives in general, that we forget God.
With this parable, Jesus foreshadows another and far greater dimension and expression of God’s extraordinary love, for the shadow of his cross begins to fall across the scene. It is in and through the cross that we see more deeply into the character of God. His love triumphs over all. God loves each one of us far more than we can ever believe or deserve.
The story does not stop there. Before the younger son could catch his breath, his father was busy ordering new clothes, shoes and a ring – the best of everything. An elaborate and expensive feast was prepared and the father tells us why: “For this my son was dead, now he is alive, he was lost but now he has been found” (15:24). The wayward, rebellious boy who deserved nothing good from his father was to be reinstated as a son.
Luke 19:10 records Jesus’ words about himself and his mission: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost”. The younger son did not just regret his folly, but in turning back to his father and admitting his failure, was truly repentant. Through his father’s extraordinary and undeserved love, he is reinstated as a ‘son’. He saw that to serve his father as a ‘hired slave’ was completely inappropriate.
You may like to consider:
the lessons to be learnt from the younger son;
2. the implications of the extraordinary grace of God in your life.
Cities have become so synonymous with evil and corruption, poverty and injustice that we tend to overlook the significance of the city in the Bible. The Scriptures often speak of the City of Zion or Jerusalem as a picture of God’s rule and his presence with his people.
In Isaiah 60:1-5 the prophet encourages God’s people that their time of darkness and despair, because they were in exile, would give way to a say of light and hope. God would establish his City – the City of Zion. He pictures the sun rising over Jerusalem – a sight that tourists today still marvel at as it lights up her walls and towers, the domes and roofs:
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you (Isaiah 60:1-5).
Historically Isaiah’s words came true, for against all odds, the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt it. Cyrus the Mede, as Isaiah had indicated (Isaiah 45), conquered Babylon, and in 520 BC he decreed that the Jewish people could return to their homeland.
But Isaiah was not just pointing to the city of Jerusalem that was rebuilt after the exile. He was pointing to the time when God’s rule would come down to earth. God would bring in a whole new order, a new creation. The city of which Isaiah spoke was a picture of God’s kingdom and the glory of a new and lasting city where God himself would fill the city with the light of his presence.
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
The imagery of light and darkness is often used to portray God’s creating work. In Genesis 1 we read that thick darkness covered the earth, but God’s light overcame it. Here in Isaiah 60 darkness is a metaphor for moral evil and spiritual blindness. Light is a picture of God’s coming to rescue his people. In God’s new city there will be no need of a sun or a moon, for God’s glory will shine forever.
Furthermore, God’s light will shine worldwide: Nations shall come to your light (60:3), and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Those who refuse to turn to God will perish (60:12). It is one of the ironies of history that the power of Rome that crucified Jesus in the first century, capitulated to him in the fourth, when the emperor Constantine was baptized. It is striking proof that Isaiah’s words were no dream. The power of human kingdoms will fail and the kingdoms of the world will amass their wealth, only to lay it down again at the feet of the King of kings. It is an inspiring and encouraging picture.
How much more should it encourage us, for we live on the other side of the coming of God’s King, Jesus the Messiah. With his coming we see more clearly that God’s kingdom will succeed and that God’s royal City, the new Jerusalem, will be established in glory and greatness forever.
However, we need to be realistic: God’s city lies on the other side of a cosmic discontinuity. God will need to intervene through the return of his anointed King. Only then will God’s people be delivered from the tragic consequences of the present world.
What we need to remember is that what we do now has significance – for what we do in this world can change things. Indeed, what we do in the service of Christ in this world lasts. When we know that, we know why we work, why we try to serve the city. Each day it is worth praying, ‘Lord what good things have you for me to do today in building the City to come?’
God has a purpose for us all. We are moving towards the end of time, to a new and lasting City. Let’s embrace the words of a great prophet of ancient Israel when he says, Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
You may like to consider:
1. the response of Isaiah’s first readers to the words of this chapter;
2. your response to Isaiah’s words when you feel that there’s no future for you;
3. how you can live a meaningful life now with the tension the hope of God’s new city before you and knowing that God has a purpose for you now.
