A, Post-Pentecost 17 Proper 20 - Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30 Acts 16:11-40 "To Live Is Christ"

Philippians 1:12–14, 19–30  (ESV) I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.   …for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul writes to the church in Philippi.  This town was a Roman colony populated by Roman soldiers, and it ranked above all the other towns in the region and was given privileges equal to Rome.  It was a likely place of retired soldiers who had faithfully served Caesar. The area was abundant with wealth due to gold mines located nearby.

Philippi is a town of ruins that today is in modern-day Greece. In Paul’s day it was in Macedonia, so Philippi is the first European location in which Paul preached the gospel.

When Paul first went to Philippi, there was no Jewish synagogue in the town, so he sought out a likely place of prayer outside the town at the local river where Jews might meet. There he met Lydia. She was a trader in purple fabric, which, because of the dye used, was an expensive fabric. Lydia was not a local, but was from a town in Asia Minor, Thyatira. We can assume that she travelled there along the Egnatian Way, the major road that connected the east to the west, Asia to Europe, around the top of the Aegean Sea between Constantinople and Rome.

The Holy Spirit opened the heart of Lydia, a worshipper of God. She was baptised with her family and encouraged Paul and his fellow workers to stay with her and her family.

Each day Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke went to the river, the place of prayer, but Paul and Silas were arrested after Paul became tired of a fortune-teller proclaiming Paul and his companions as servants of the Most High God.

What she proclaimed was true, but this was not of the Holy Spirit, but rather another spirit, which Paul cast out. We might assume that he did this because this fortune-teller was grandstanding and using the truth of what Paul, Silas, and the others were doing for God to make a profit for her owner. Because Paul ended her fortune-telling ability when he cast out the spirit, her owner had him and Silas arrested, and they were subsequently jailed overnight.

It was at midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, that the Holy Spirit shook the place with an earthquake, opening the gates of the prison and releasing their shackles. It is through this event that Paul baptised the jailer and his family after saving him from killing himself, assuming that the prisoners had escaped.

The jailer knew it was his life for the life of any escaped prisoners, but the extraordinary event and the lack of escapees led him to fall at Silas and Paul’s feet and plead, “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptised at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (Acts 16:30–34 ESV)

When the magistrates of the town called for their release, they found out that Paul and his companions were Roman citizens. The authorities feared that they had unlawfully held them captive and politely asked Paul and his companions to leave Philippi.

It is folk like the jailer and his family that Paul fondly held dear to his heart and now wrote to in Philippi. His letter to the Philippians was a letter to his fellow Romans, and he addressed suffering, citizenship, imprisonment as an ambassador in chains, and referred to Epaphroditus as a fellow soldier in Christ. Paul, who once was imprisoned in Philippi, wrote from prison in Rome to the church in Philippi. He signed off his letter to the congregation of expat Romans at Philippi, saying, “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” (Philippians 4:22 ESV)

Paul and Silas’ singing of hymns and seismic release from their chains likely left an indelible mark on the memories of those in Philippi, especially the household of the jailer who became Paul’s first Roman converts after his near-suicidal death. Since Philippi was a Roman town held in high esteem by Rome and a place of privilege for retired soldiers from Caesar’s guard, it’s possible that Roman converts like the jailer had connections with some in the imperial guard or with some who had retired to Philippi. Through the jailer and his contemporaries, it is possible that those of the imperial guard in Rome would have heard favourable news about Paul from those at Philippi.

This is what the greeting from Caesar’s house seems to imply, but more so the sense of duty to which Paul appealed as he suffered for Christ in the advancement of the gospel. This sense of duty was not lost on at least one at Philippi: the jailer, who was within a whisker of taking his own life through his sense of failed duty if prisoners had indeed escaped after the Holy Spirit-induced earthquake.

Paul’s call for the Philippians to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ is encouragement for these Romans and others, like Lydia from Thyatira in Asia Minor, to focus not so much on whether they have Roman citizenship or not, but on the citizenship they have in heaven through Jesus Christ’s suffering and death, who makes them one to suffer for the gospel, as they saw Paul suffer when jailed in Philippi and are encouraged as he is once again imprisoned in Rome for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel.

This is also encouragement for you, as many of you too have been through suffering, and you have witnessed your pastors go through various trials in recent times, especially those who have taken their stand and have been dishonoured for the sake of the gospel.

Like Paul and the apostles, we do not know if we will be placed in a situation where we will be called to die for the sake of the gospel, or whether we will be called to carry on living as suffering servants, to carry on the duty of, calling some to Christ, or calling some to return to Christ, at the eleventh hour.

What we see is not as God sees.  Where we see suffering, ruins, and an end, through the history of salvation He constantly shows that things are allowed to die beyond human repair so He alone might breathe new life into them, not by the will of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rather than seeing the writing on the wall, so to speak, we’re called to hear the Word of God, His writing on the page! We’re called to see His power despite the weakness within in which we live and the power without in which we live.

Rather than focusing on the fracturing of Christianity that seems to be occurring around us today, through the humiliation of the church and the growth of human ideologies and idolatries that are increasingly forced on us and which we’re deceived into accepting, we’re called to a sense of duty that sees our citizenship in heaven and that to live is Christ and to die is gain. This especially means putting to death within us the idolatries and ideologies that make us deaf to what Jesus forewarns about the increased persecution of the true one hidden church, now and continuing till eternity is finally revealed.

We’re called to be emboldened like the apostles who after being flogged and told not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ, left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name.” (Acts 5:41 ESV)

Today we hear the first of four readings from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It would be fruitful labour for you to read Paul’s brief letter to the Philippians and its context from Acts 16:11-40, and ponder your citizenship in heaven: what you are called to suffer for the sake of the gospel!  Be it what you’re called to endure from others or what you’re called to suffer by sacrificing things within that might be tempting you away from the duty and works that God has set for you in advance.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, renew me with Your Holy Spirit so I believe that I shall look upon Your goodness in the land of the living, to dwell with You, both now and eternally. In my weakness, help me wait on You as Jesus waited on You; to be strong only in Your strength, and to let my heart take courage as I wait for Your kingdom to come, as You dismantle my kingdoms of death. Amen.

Sermon Summary
Paul’s letter to the Philippians speaks from prison into a congregation shaped by suffering, duty, citizenship, and the power of the gospel. Philippi, a proud Roman colony, was also the place where the Holy Spirit opened Lydia’s heart, shook open the prison doors, and brought the jailer and his household to faith in Jesus Christ. These beginnings help us hear Paul’s encouragement: the gospel advances even through suffering, imprisonment, humiliation, and apparent weakness.

Paul calls the Philippians, and us, to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Our highest citizenship is not earthly but heavenly, won through Jesus Christ’s suffering and death. Therefore, Christians are called not to fear opposition or be distracted by the fracturing and humiliation of the church, but to stand firm in one spirit, trusting that God brings life where human eyes see only decline, ruins, and death.

You are invited to take courage in suffering, to put to death the idolatries and ideologies that draw you away from Christ, and to be emboldened by the Holy Spirit to confess the gospel. For to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Reflection Questions

1. Where do I see weakness, ruin, or decline in the church or in my own life, and how might God be calling me to trust His power there?
2. What does it mean for me to live as a citizen of heaven rather than being defined primarily by earthly identity, status, or security?
3. How does Paul’s imprisonment help me understand suffering not as failure, but as a place where the gospel may still advance?
4. What idolatries or ideologies might be making me deaf to the Word of God and hesitant to confess Christ?
5. In what ways am I being called to stand firm with other Christians in one spirit and one mind for the faith of the gospel?
6. How does the witness of Lydia, the jailer, Paul, and Silas encourage me to pray, suffer, serve, and speak without fear? 

C, The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany - Luke 6:16:35–38a "Jesus on Judgement"

Luke 6:35–38a (ESV) But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”

Here at the centre of Jesus’ word on loving one’s neighbour is a succinct statement, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”

This directive by Jesus is for one not to judge and condemn and therefore one will not be judged or condemned.  

What happens when we are judged?  It all depends on the judgement. 

When we’re wrongly judged positively, when we’re guilty, we tend to keep our mouths shut agreeing with the judgement.  When someone says, “You’re a good bloke or a good lady.” Usually, one doesn’t cause a stink about being wronged.  Rather one quietly breathes a sigh of relief thinking,  “Gosh, I’m glad they didn’t see my true colours!”   

But when judge negatively, rather than being quiet, the heckles go up, and we voice a protest, despite being innocent or guilty of the allegation.

But as we’ve heard, Jesus encompasses his words on judgement and condemnation with mercy and forgiveness.  However, to be merciful and to be forgiving, one is required to make a judgement.

What is going on here? 

Today in the readings we hear about Joseph being revealed to his brothers after they had sold him into slavery and deceived their father into believing he was dead.  

Joseph was the least amongst his brothers, but highly exalted by Jacob his father.  The judgement made by his brothers; we would all agree was horrendous to say the least.  Yet when Joseph became second to pharaoh, although it was testing on his brothers, his judgement was ultimately encapsulated with mercy and forgiveness.

This is Joseph’s judgement: “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:5, 7-8 ESV)

So, it seems there is judgement and then there is judgement.  Jesus says to a crowd at the temple, “If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:23–24 ESV)

So how do you and I judge with right judgement?  How does one make just judgements, but at the same time, are made with infused mercy and forgiveness? 

Last week we heard Jesus speak blessings and woes to the people on the plain.  The Gospel reading today is a continuation of Jesus’ sermon on the plain.  It’s quite similar to the sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew’s Gospel.  In it, Jesus’ parallels being merciful with your enemies with being perfect or whole saying, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 ESV) This is a repetition of what God said through Moses, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44a ESV)

Our judgement is called to be in accord with our Heavenly Father’s judgement.  His judgement is complete, perfect, holy, and impartial.  So, is Jesus setting an impossible task for us?

Our human brain is made up of two halves.  Both halves control the other half. The right half generally works on feelings, creativity, and intuition.  The left works is rational, logical, analytical, and is mathematical and factual.  However, the frontal lobe which is on both side of the brain is the largest part of the brain and it makes judgements both rational and emotional. 

We know for certain when Jesus says, “to not judge”, he’s not calling us to have a frontal lobotomy.  Judgement sometimes requires us to make rational decisions based on logical and factual information.  But then sometimes judgements need to be emotive, based on the intuitive and creative part of the mind.     

It seems we are still in a judgement jam!   

Paul makes a clear judgement about the resurrection to the folk in Corinth.  He works on both half of the hearer’s brain, emotively calling one who asks, “what kind of a body is raised”, as a “fool”, as one who is curved in on their own emotions!  But then he works on the other half of the brain,  the logical half, by painting the picture in the mind of the hearer about the reality of a seed which dies to produce life.  Beginning as a germ inside the husk or body, planted in the soil, just as people are buried in the grave.

But it’s what he says next regarding the resurrection, from where we can glean an understanding on how one might love their enemies, and make merciful, impartial, and just judgements, in the sight our Father in heaven.

He says about the body, “It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 15:43–46 ESV)

Rather than dissecting the brain from left and right, or lobotomising the frontal lobe, Paul points to the natural and the spiritual.  Paul is speaking of the natural as the flesh or human spirit as opposed to those who have the mind of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is a key theme Paul picks up back at the start of his letter to the Corinthians.

He says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV)

Judgement with right judgement comes as a result of us being judged at the cross and in our baptism as guilty natural people.  However, this judgement is executed upon us as mercy, forgiveness, and resurrection from death, to be God’s spiritual people.

By our appearances we still appear as enemies of God, when we sin.  Therefore, our judgement or condemnation takes into consideration the tension of our acquittal and freedom, despite still being natural people this side of the resurrection.  You and I are one hundred percent natural people, created from dust with the breath of God, but returning to dust as a result of our corruption. 

Yet, what was begun at the cross and is transmitted to us in Holy Baptism continues in those who make right judgements of God, themselves, their neighbours, and their enemies, judging the sin with the goal of releasing the sinner.  God is freeing you through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

James tells us, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12–13 ESV)

Therefore, those who receive the law of liberty or freedom are also one hundred percent God’s spiritual people.  God’s spiritual people judge with the intention to forgive and show mercy.

Because God the Father, Son, and Spirit are holy, we are called to be holy.  Because God is perfect, we are called to be perfect.  Because God is merciful, we are called to be merciful.

The law of liberty is such that you can judge with a right judgement.  As spiritual people God promises you’re covered by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be holy, because God is holy.  You’re continually perfected in your suffering, because Christ was shown to be perfected in his impartial suffering for all.  And you and I have the freedom to be merciful and forgiving, because our Heavenly Father is merciful and forgiving.  Amen. 

B, Post Pentecost 7 Proper 9 - 2 Corinthinans 12:2-10 "Super-Self"

2 Corinthians 12:2–10 (ESV)  I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.  And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—  and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.  On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—  though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul addresses those at Corinth to hang onto the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and avoid Satan who acts as an “angel of light”.  He confronts these people who teach contrary to his teaching and tempt others away from trusting God’s word.  Those who do this,  Paul calls super-apostles.  These are folk who work superiority over others, forcing folk to follow their ways, contrary to the ways of God.  These people are super-selves and encourage others to super-size their egos too!!

In our age of individualism and self-glorification of the individual, super-apostleship is arguably just as prevalent, if not more so, than when Paul addressed the Corinthians. 

How can you and I safeguard ourselves from super-apostles?  But more importantly, how does a person protect themselves from inadvertently becoming a super-apostle, or a super-self?

This is the issue Paul needed to pursue at Corinth.  He has come under attack by these super-selves, so he defends the apostleship to which he is called by God.  But he has to do it without falling into the same trap as those who have become super-apostles, false-apostles, false-teachers of God’s word.  Paul’s aim is to create true disciples, true believers, or Christians who stand under God’s word, under Jesus Christ, rather than under him.  Sub-selves of Jesus, or disciples, rather than super-selves!

This is why Paul speaks to the Corinthians in what might seem peculiar to our ears.  He refers to himself as a fool.  As one who has no mind, out of his mind, or has no understanding.  This is a very strange way to defend the faith, you might think!

He speaks of a man caught up to the third heaven or paradise of whom he will not boast.  Paul speaks here of himself, apart from himself, not to boast of the things God has done with him to prepare him for his apostleship under the cross.  But Paul boasts in his foolishness, nothingness, weakness, and the harassment of Satan in his thorn in his flesh, to stop him boasting and becoming conceited in the flesh of himself. 

To stop him from becoming a super-apostle within himself, Paul appeals to this suffering selflessness.  Rather than be a super-self, Paul proclaims his suffering-self!

But Paul even goes further by saying, “Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.  Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.”  (2 Corinthians 11:5–6 ESV)

Paul calls himself “unskilled in speaking”, this is literally an “idiot in speaking”, and ignoramus!  He goes on to question and say of the weakness and foolishness of his flesh, “To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!  But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.  Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.  Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.”  (2 Corinthians 11:21b–23 ESV)

What Paul is comparing himself to is the “idiotes” (id-ee-o-tace)or nothingness of Christ.  Not that Christ was nothing, but that Jesus Christ selflessly put his divinity aside and became “absolutely nothing” to save you, me, Paul, and the Corinthians.

This flies in the face of any super-apostle.  The super-self within all of us, seeks to be outstanding in position and perception, rather than understanding or being submissive and subordinate, under the knowledge of Christ.  The knowledge of a super-self will come from a glorified hyper-sense of self.   One’s knowledge is not of Jesus Christ but of what one thinks is good or evil.  Rather than submit to a fool like Saint Paul or any other “idiot” to whom Paul submits, they position themselves, second to no one, serving only if it is to benefit of the super-self.

The desire of super-apostles will always be to tempt others away from humility and faithful submission to God, to a faithfulness in other things or persons.  They use scandalous scams that lure the vainglory of the old sinful super-self, within each of us, to covet pleasure, popularity, and prosperity of various kinds.  This is emotionalism!  The super-apostle wants the person they tempt, to think like them, to be emotional, so they can control them with their "superior ways and beliefs".

With the growing rejection of Christ-centred faith in the world today, individualism and the super-self, sees the cross of Jesus Christ as a scandal.  This should not be a surprise to us, as the people of Nazareth, Jesus own kin, saw him as a scandal.  But it’s this very scandal that Paul and all Christ-centred people continue, suffer, and persevere in patience, waiting for the hope of eternal glory.

So, to protect ourselves from super-apostles, as well as becoming super-selves, we need to invoke a test, first on ourselves and then on those who come to us seeking to teach us something!  The test is simple: Test by asking, “Where is the glory going!”  “Is it going to God alone or to somewhere or someone else?”  It’s as simple as that!  

However, we need to do this, because we still need to be taught.  We are still learners, disciples! The other danger that we face in this age of individualism is to further promote the old Adam, the super-self, and cut ourselves off from true sources of teaching, that God puts in place.

Rather than be misinformed by a super-apostle, we can also cut ourselves off from God the Holy Spirit’s work, by being uninformed without the word of God, and continuing in this uninformed state, we quickly revert back to having the malformed mind of a super-self, separated from God and his word.

You and I need to be daily carried from the individualism of the super-self, back into the word of God, by the Holy Spirit.

As there were in Paul’s day, there are many today who, use the word of God in a way contrary to the way the prophets, Paul and the apostles, as well as many mum, dad, and children disciples, who have sought and continue to seek being faithful servants of God.

Rather than support you in repentance, confession of sin, and belief in Christ’s forgiveness of sin, super-selves and super-apostles who masquerade as “angels of light” under Satan, will give the sense that Christians shouldn’t struggle and suffer with sin.  They will seek subtle ways of putting themselves between God and his word.  Probably by using God and his word, just as the devil sought to do against Jesus, and countless others since.

As your pastor, I know that you all have been caught up into the third heaven, to paradise, when God baptised you into the holy priesthood of all believers.  I also know as your pastor; you have been given thorns in the flesh.  That, super-apostles and your super-self, harass you, torment and seek to tempt you, within the church, to be without the Holy Spirit and the word of God.  Or, to add laws to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But as Jesus says to Paul, he says to us all, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9a ESV)

This is what God the Son promises you in his Holy Baptism.  His cross is sufficient for you.  The Holy Spirit was Jesus’ perfect power, to, and through, the scandal of the cross.  This same Holy Spirited power is sufficient for you for your forgiveness of sin, life and salvation.

Therefore, in your weaknesses let the power of Christ rest upon you, as you reject the super-apostle and daily drown the super-self within.  Amen.

B, Trinity Sunday - Isaiah 6:3 & Romans 8:14-15 "Holy Abba"

Isaiah 6:3 (ESV) “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 

Romans 8:14-15 (ESV) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba!  Father!” 

Today is Trinity Sunday and we celebrate God in his thrice holy being.  We can do so only because of Jesus Christ who gives us access into the presence of one who is so almighty, if we dared to have an audience with God without Jesus’ atonement we would drop dead.  Such is the omnipotent glory of God in heaven and our human impotence.

If anything comes into the presence of a Holy God without his chosen covering of mercy, one of two truths has to occur.  God’s purity is diluted, and he is not really holy!  Or, any impurity, be it ever so slight, has to be consumed by the radiance of his holy glory.

Isaiah was very well aware of this.  He knew that to be in God’s presence demanded nothing but perfection.  Such is the holiness of God, it cannot tolerate any error, lest it be unholy.  Like Moses and Gideon before him, Isaiah knew, to see God, meant death.

Isaiah also knew that the king of Judah, Uzziah[1], sought under his own power to enter the temple of God in Jerusalem and burn incense, not “consecrated”, or “made holy” to do so.  Because he did the king lived the rest of his life in separation as a lepper, despite doing what was right in the eyes of God right up until this unauthorised entry into God’s holy presence.

So, when the vision of the Lord was revealed to Isaiah, of God’s presence shaking the temple and filling it with smoke, with the seraphim singing, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of hosts”  Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”  (Isaiah 6:5 ESV)  Like the King who died in that year, Isaiah lamented he too was lost to death!

But rather than leprosy appearing on his forehead as it did with King Uzziah, he didn’t die.  Being completely right in saying he was unclean and deserving of death for just seeing a vision of the Lord in the temple, the seraph took a burning coal from the altar and touched his mouth saying, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7 ESV)

The holiness of God took away Isaiah’s guilt and atoned for his sins.  God now gave him the lips with which to proclaim his word to his people who did not recognise their uncleanliness before a Holy God.  And it wasn’t a pleasant message God sent Isaiah to say…

The Lord said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”  Then I (Isaiah) said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,  and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.  (Isaiah 6:9–13 ESV)

Immediately we will recognise a couple of things.  God was disciplining his chosen people with the harshest of judgements, to turn away from the Lord so that the Lord will remove the people far away and the tenth who remain would be burnt to a stump. 

We also recognise the burnt stump that appeared to not have any life within it, is in fact, the holy seed, the stump of Jesse, the promised Son of David, Jesus Christ.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims the fullness of God’s Law and Gospel.  The holiness of God the Father, the holiness of God the Son, and the holiness of God the Holy Spirit.  The full supreme holiness of the triune God in his perfect justice and jealous love, pours out his word of on his chosen people. 

In human eyes and understanding it appears we, like Isaiah, and the Israelites, are dead men!  And rightly so before a God whose holiness cannot partake of anything short of perfection, lest he has made himself out to be a liar.

But God is no liar, he is our God of truth, exposing what needs to be exposed, so he can fix what needs to be fixed.  God’s word is holy and with it he works to make us holy.

Against this picture of God’s almighty threefold holiness, shaking and filling the temple of Isaiah’s vision with smoke, is the picture Paul paints for the Romans and us.  Worked by the Holy Spirit and not a human spirit of slavery this is a most beautiful and gracious picture.

It’s a picture of Fatherly love, a picture of nurturing, a picture of adoption, a safe picture of submission and stability, a picture of inheritance together with our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a picture of the stump with the Tree or Life growing out of it.  This is our Stump of hope.  It’s our connection with the holiness of God, it’s a picture of Jesus our brother putting us in our Father’s arms.

Because of the truth of this picture, you’re called to believe and receive you’re being gathered with God the Father and his Son by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit enables you and me to put to death the deeds of our flesh, through repentance, the uncleanness that Jesus Christ has covered with his robes of holiness.

The Holy Spirit now touches our mouths with his holy fire of faith, so rather than crying out, “woe is me in unbelief.”  We can joyfully sing to each other before our Loving Father, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3 ESV)  This God who is so huge and almighty, who fills heaven and earth with the hem of his holy, holy, holy glory, intimately takes us in his arms, and as his children wills us to call him “Abba”, “dadda”, “daddy”, “Father”.  

A couple of weeks back there was much excitement over the auroras present at both poles of our planet.  It was the strongest it’s been for a couple of decades.  I was fortunate to see it and photograph it. 

I wonder if the sense of smallness I had was similar to that of Isaiah when he saw his vision.  But not only Isaiah’s vision but that of John’s revelation of the throne of heaven where he saw, “one seated on the throne.  And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.”  (Revelation 4:2–3 ESV)

Picture that display of holiness!

As I remember marvelling, in my smallness, at this spectacle of nature in the colours of the aurora, it makes me look forward to the reality of finally being face to face in the Father’s holiness, through the holy atonement of Jesus Christ, in the holy fulfilment of the Holy Spirit.  Where around the throne of God all the holy will join the angels, the archangels, and the whole company of heaven, praising God, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8 ESV)

Picture this reality in your adoption as sons of God.  Amen.

Let us pray.  Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.  (Revelation 4:11 ESV) For the kingdom, and the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever, Amen.

 

 

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[1] 2 Chronicles 26:1-23 (Uzziah was known as Azariah in 2 Kings 15:1-7)

B, The Baptism of our Lord, Epiphany 1 - Acts 19:1-7 "Epiphany in Ephesus"

There were many things going on in the years leading up to Jesus’ incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension.

For two to three hundred years within “Jerusalem Judaism”, murder, scandals, power battles, and political jockeying for favourable positions were occurring at a time when big social changes outside the temple were causing much chaos and confusion in a Greco-Roman world.

Jews whom God had allowed to be exiled to the east, were now not returning to Jerusalem.  Instead, they were spreading as diaspora throughout this new world and were seeking to come to terms with paganism and the philosophical thoughts that abounded in the Hellenisation of the Greco-Roman world.  

Years before, the Greek ruler, Alexander the Great, had annexed the known world under his control.  His kingdom spanned from India in the East to Europe in the west.  He became the father of Hellenisation, which sought to integrate Persian and Greek culture, religion, philosophical thinking, language, and identity.  This was the era in which the philosophical thoughts of Socrates, Plato, and the like, spread throughout the Greco-Roman world.

There were both positives and negatives for Jews in this world.  They were allowed to practice the Jewish faith, and at this time the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek by seventy-two translators at Alexandria in North Africa.  The translation is called Septuagint, commonly referred to as the LXX, or seventy, for its numbers of translators.  This was a notable positive for the mission of God the Father of the Jews amongst the Gentiles.  But the danger for Jewish faith was monotheism was now challenged by a pantheon of polytheistic male and female gods and ideologies.

Into this Jesus was born.  John the Baptist baptised Jews in the Jordan, preparing and refocusing the people of God, for the fullness of time came for God to fulfill his promise to Israel, made through the prophets of old.  Three full years saw the completion of God’s covenant with humanity, and then the work of the Holy Spirit continued in a new way, revealing Jesus Christ as “the way of God” for both Jews and Gentiles in Greco-Roman society.

The way of God born of one man and his remaining eleven disciples, at face value, was not going to survive, for all that long, amongst a hostile Jewish culture, from which it came.  Nor did anyone expect the “way of God” to survive the deluge of polytheistic gods and ideologies competing for people’s attention in this diverse new world.

But it did!  Why?  It was the power of God the Holy Spirit!  The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, the Son of God, who put his divinity aside, and suffered on earth as did any other person.  But he finished it without sinning!  Jesus allowed the Holy Spirit to lead him in life and death, fulfilling God the Father’s will in the fullness of time!  The Holy Spirit then raised Jesus from the dead to the right hand of the Father at his ascension after the resurrection.  Now the Holy Spirit would continue revealing the ascended Christ to both Jews and Gentiles!

The spread of the Gospel through the way of God was helped by what God allowed to occur in the dispersion of Jews in the four hundred years since the exile to Babylon before Jesus’ coming.  Jews are notable traders, and they were found along the trade routes of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the Roman Empire, that had grown and won out over all former empires.

Ephesus, once a seaport, was one of these trading places enroute to somewhere else!  But not only were goods traded, many ideas and philosophies were exchanged and intertwined along these routes that passed from the Far East to Rome and onto Western Europe.

Artemis was a female goddess in Asia Minor.  The world worshipped her.  (Acts 19:27) Ephesus housed her temple and the town relied on Artemis for its honour, as well as trade. 

To the Greeks she was known as Artemis, to the Romans, this same goddess is known as Diana.  We might consider her as a Mother Nature cult, since she was the patron goddess of nature, hunters, wildlife, and childbirth, to name a few.

The way of God, the Gospel, first came to the Jews at Ephesus, as Paul briefly passed through its port and synagogue on his way to Caesarea.  This was his second missionary journey.  (Acts 18: 18-21) 

Next came a man named Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria in North Africa.  Being from this town named after Alexander the Great, and encouraged as a centre of academia, diversity of thought, and culture, Apollos was well equipped in the art of rhetoric and debate, and was competent in the Old Testament Scriptures, most likely the Greek Septuagint.

After Paul’s first visit, Apollos made a stand for Jesus Christ in the synagogue in Ephesus.  However, Priscilla and Aquila, known tentmakers and acquaintances of Paul, having heard him, took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately.  From there Apollos moves onto what we would know as Greece today.  (Acts 18:24-28)

After these two encounters some of the Jews begin to believe in the way of God.  They know of Jesus Christ but not of the power of God through the Holy Spirit.  We hear what happens from Acts chapter nineteen…

Paul said to the disciples in Ephesus, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”  And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”  On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.  There were about twelve men in all.”  (Acts 19:2–7 ESV)

Apollos, like John the Baptist brought a baptism of repentance, preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.  Now Paul, in the fullness of time, brings Jesus Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Water and the Law came through Apollos, then through Paul the Holy Spirit brought the fullness of the Gospel.  Just as Jesus has called twelve into service during his ministry on earth, God did the same through Paul’s laying on of hands at Ephesus.

Paul remained in Ephesus for about three years on his third missionary journey.  (Acts 20:31) For the first three months he boldly persuaded them about the kingdom of God in the synagogue (Acts 19:8), but then moved to the hall of Tyrannus, where for the next two years, he continued to preach and teach, not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. 

The Holy Spirit gave Paul extraordinary healing powers while in Ephesus.  The sons of Sceva, sons of a Jewish High Priest, sought to copy Paul with their own exorcisms, but were overcome by the evil spirits they were trying to exorcize, because they sort to do it by their own power, without the power of the Holy Spirit.  Here stands a warning to anyone who seeks to work apart from the Holy Spirit, through their own human spirit.

So extraordinary was the event, the Sons of Sceva, were wounded and fled the house naked, bringing a sense of awe upon all at Ephesus.  So much so, a greater depth of reverence for Jesus Christ was fostered.  Even believers came confessing and divulging their practices.  Imagine that!  Such was the faith generated by the Holy Spirit in this event, they made public what they were doing, rather than chance being cut off from the power of God, by continuing in their hidden deeds.

Nearing the end of three years, as the Holy Spirit grew the way of God through Paul and the gathering in Ephesus, some became concerned their livelihoods were being diminished as more and more worshippers of Artemis became believers in the way of God through Jesus Christ.  There was much chaos and controversy in Ephesus, so much so, Paul’s fellow believers would not let Paul speak to the mob for fear of what might happen to him.

So, Paul left after being in Ephesus for just under three years, to continue his third missionary journey in Greece. 

On his way back to Jerusalem from Greece, Paul stopped in Miletus, to the south of Ephesus in Asia Minor and called the elders of Ephesus to him.  Paul teaches the elders in the wake of what had occurred earlier in Ephesus, and by what power he did it. 

He says, “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,  serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;  how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,  testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.  But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.  …for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”  (Acts 20:18–24, 27b-28 ESV)

Paul knows these overseers at Ephesus will be attacked by those seeking to subvert the way of God to the ways of men. (Acts 20:29-32) In fact, Paul was so gifted with discernment in the Holy Spirit, the ministry to Ephesus continues to them through his epistle to them (the book of Ephesians) and in his encouragement for Timothy to remain at Ephesus.  (Paul’s first and second letters to Timothy)

Paul’s letters to Ephesus and Saint Timothy, give us great insight into the congregation and the pastoral care of it in the face of pagan and Jewish persecution of the way of God.

Through Paul, the Holy Spirit leads the church in this era of transformation.  As the pendulum of change swings, Paul seeks to keep the centrality of the cross before the people of Ephesus. 

Paul places the fulfilment of God’s fatherhood in Jesus Christ before the Ephesian congregation, which is caught between, the fatherhood through circumcision in the Law and its extreme opposite uncircumcised fatherless chaos and corruption.

Through Paul and Timothy, the Holy Spirit seeks to put the brakes on the pendulum swing from Judaism to pagan chaos and disorder in the church.  He does this by encouraging faith in the complementarian order within the church, as God had originally ordained in creation and then corrected and restored in Jesus Christ at the cross.  This is done in the face of “new woman” Artemis cultic worship in Ephesus, which is not unlike the mother earth and egalitarian imbalances pushed in our society today.  Not to mention, the Artemis magic similarities with the powers and principalities of the occult.

During 2024, as the LCANZ considers the expectations put before us in the last Synod, we will do well to further investigate and listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in Ephesus in the book of Acts and through Paul’s letters to the Ephesian congregation and Timothy it’s young pastor.  We know and do this trusting the Holy Spirit will keep us in Christ Jesus so like Paul amongst the Ephesians we can be faithfully testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Further reading: Acts 18:24-20:1, 17-38, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and letters First and Second Timothy, the pastor at Ephesus when Paul wrote to him.  

A, Post-Pentecost 21 Proper 24 - 1 Thessalonians 1: 3 "Produced, Prompted, Inspired"

1 Thessalonians 1: 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The verse we have just heard, directs us to meditate on three things; faith, love, and hope.  These three are not uncommon to us from scripture.  We hear of them in many places throughout the New Testament.  But more on these three in a moment.

There are also another three things in this verse we can examine too; work, labour, and endurance.

Whether one works or not, all know what work is; all know what work they should be doing, whether they have done it or not.  Work here in this sense refers to one’s deeds or actions; to ‘do’ something. 

Then we hear of labour.  We might assume labour is the same as work, and when we labour at something we do work at it.  However, labour is more intense than work in the general sense.  Mothers, more than likely, have the greatest understanding of labour, as a more intense part of motherhood, over against the regular duties of a mother’s work.  So, labour here implies that there is hardship and difficulty, requiring commitment and passion, lest the labour not be finished.

The third word is endurance.  It too has something to do with work, as does labour.  However, with endurance we have the quality of constancy.  One might see endurance as something one has to keep at, grinding away bit by bit, until the outcome is realised.  Guts and dogged determination, stamina and inner strength are needed for endurance.  Patience, fortitude, steadfastness, and perseverance are what endurance is all about.

Saint Paul, on behalf of himself Timothy and Silas, writes to the church in Thessalonica after a hasty retreat from the multicultural trade route town.  The new converts are left to face verbal and physical persecution as a result of their newfound faith.  There’s concerned for the fledgling church as they work, labour, and endure amongst those who have rejected Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel.

So, he writes his first letter to the Thessalonians to encourage them in the troubles they’re facing.  We hear his encouragement for their work, labour, and endurance.  But specifically for their work produced by faith, their labour prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope.  The three-fold theme — faith, hope, and love — common in the New Testament is present here, but Paul now couples it with their deeds and lives amongst the transient community of Thessalonica.

In these days we too live in a transient and temporary society.  In communities where once everyone knew who was who, there was a consistent stability people could count on.  But no more!   Our world has gone and got itself a whole lot busier, and we have been caught up in the busyness of it too.  

Our society is changing in many ways.  We can now find out news from anywhere in the world with only a moment’s notice.  People are becoming migratory in search of the almighty dollar.  And those who stay put, can’t afford to sit still or they get left behind and buried under a pile of debt.

The church too faces this change and Christians within it face the very real pressures of the transient, live-for-the-moment desires of our age.  Once upon a time Christianity was the centre of most communities; you would see the who’s who of the district in a church somewhere.  And everyone made the commitment to be in church on Good Friday and Christmas day.  But today, friends and family are sadly missed from amongst the ranks.  The pews are empty; leaving us behind wondering if we should remain in something that seems like it might die.

The saddest thing though, is not that our society is changing, getting busier, or even becoming more and more heathen.  The Thessalonians came through it and so has the Christian church in other ages too.  No! The saddest thing is that as a result of these things we allow ourselves to backslide; producing less and less works, labouring in love is lost, and endurance becomes uninspired, bland, and boring. 

The saddest thing is we let the godlessness of our age have more power in our lives than our Father in heaven, fearing godlessness more than God, giving it greater and greater power in our hearts and minds. We see numerical decline and lose trust in God who has his plan for his church which he ultimately sustains through thick and thin. 

After the collection of the weekly offering, we pray for God to receive it for the sake of Jesus Christ.  We use various prayers, but usually they give thanks for what God has given us; ourselves, our time, and our possessions.  We go on to ask God to accept our offerings as a sign of his goodness and as a symbol of our love. 

The offering on the plate is a sign and a symbol, but it’s not the sum total of what we give!  And so we can ask ourselves, regardless of how much or how little we might put on the plate, “With what intention do I give?”

The state of our faith, hope, and love are quickly revealed when we match them next to the offering of ourselves, our time, and our possessions. 

Does the handling of our possessions speak well of our love, of God or of our neighbour?  What does our time management reveal of our daily, hourly, and momentary devotion and glorification of God Almighty?  And what type of faith do we radiate to others as a result of the faith we have received from God? 

Faith and ourselves, our time and our hope, our love, and our possessions; we ask ourselves, “What do they say about my intention towards God?”

Today, in the days of the Thessalonians, even back when the Israelites created the golden calf, and right the way back to Adam and Eve, humanity turns from the one true and living God to idols of one kind or another. 

Much work, labour, and endurance has evolved from the hearts and hands of humans to serve these idols we’ve fashioned.  But the question is; how do I turn from this habitual sin and idolatry back to the one true and living God, so faith in me produces work pleasing to God, I labour for the love of God prompted by the love of God, and I persevere, inspired with enduring hope of my eternal home, before those who seek heavenly moments in the fleeting pleasures of this world?

We could become better focused on our work, labour, and endurance; but that still would lead us on a path into idolatry.  Even if faith, hope, and love within are fed by work, labour, and endurance could we together build something special and great?  No! We couldn’t even make something as special or great as a golden calf or a tower of Babel, even if we tried really hard!  And we know what God thought of them!

Paul thanks God for the Thessalonians because they didn’t do that.  Rather they turned from their idolatry to serve the living and true God, waiting for his Son from heaven.  They looked to Jesus Christ and to him alone who chose them through the gospel, convicting them deeply by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God has chosen you and me.  Although the deep conviction to work, labour, and love might temp us to focus on these things and turn them into idols, it is the Holy Spirit’s intention with faith, hope, and love, to have us focus on Jesus Christ.  And in him we will be productive in faith works, prompted to love, and inspired by hope. 

You see faith, hope, and love are ours in Christ Jesus our Lord; we are in Christ because Christ is in us.  Faith, hope, and love are in us and can only come from us because they are in Christ and are of Christ as a result of the Holy Spirit.

So let us not even be tempted to run after these other things which might seem good, lest they lead us away from God into the idolatry of ourselves.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and run after him, so that in him, he in us will produce prompt and inspire, faithful good works, labours of love, and enduring hope, to the glory of God — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

C, Post-Pentecost 14 Proper 19 - 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "Jesus' Perfect Patience"

1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV) The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Saint Paul’s ministry was one of patience!  Jesus had to be perfectly patient with Paul as an example to those who were to believe Jesus for eternal life.

We might think the patience needed, is what was required of Paul to perform his ministry.  He definitely was taught to be patient, but this was only secondary to Jesus’ perfect patience with him. 

After his conversion on the road to Damascus, you might expect, there was preaching to do, and people to seek, now that Saul the persecutor of Christ and his church had become Paul the proselyte of this fledgeling movement centred on Jesus’ life and death, resurrection and ascension.

However, if Saint Paul’s ministry, or any ministry is to be effective in the Lord, God’s patience needs to be demonstrated with us who share the gospel, whether we are pastors, lay leaders in congregations, youth leaders, parents and grandparents praying for their prodigals to return, or young kids telling their friends about Jesus in the playground.

When God was handing out patience, I reckon I must have been away that day!  I, like so many in our society today, desire immediate results, or I get impatient.

As I get older the need to –go, go, go– is slowing, physically!  But mentally and emotionally my patience is slowing too.  Or my impatience is growing proportionally to the years I live or the hairs that are getting greyer.  The slower I go, the slower I am at being patient.  Or the quicker I run out of puff, the quicker I expect others to pick up their act and get going.

The old Adam in us, our human spirit, turns its expectation into a god.  Unfortunately, sin has rewired our brains and hearts this way.  But the Holy Spirit leads us back to Christ’s overflowing love. 

When the god of our expectations is not met, we get frustrated and impassioned with each other.  In our minds we become impatient and secretly judge, “I expected so much more from you!  Or, I didn’t expect you to do something like that!”  Our expectations can be idols in our lives that cause us to sin against others and God.

After Saint Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, at the least, he spent fourteen years away from Jerusalem in Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia.  God was patiently preparing Paul for his ministry, and no doubt Paul too was learning patience having been shown patience.  It’s believed during these fourteen years; God was patiently preparing him as an apostle.  Saul the Pharisee who knew the Law was being patiently revealed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the only fulfiller of the Law.

Sometime later Paul confesses to young pastor Timothy, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

What a way to start off!  Confession that he is not just a sinner but the prototype of sinners!  Only through Jesus’ perfect patience does someone learn this, and, have the willingness to confess it.

Paul prefaces his confession as the prototype sinner stating, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV)

He confesses to Timothy that Jesus Christ, this Saviour of sinners, and his sinfulness, is proclaimed in faith and this deserves Timothy’s full reception.  Paul wants Timothy to perfectly understand what he is saying here! 

In naming himself a sinner, Paul does a number of things.  He’s no longer ignorant in his unbelief.  He now has faith that he’s a sinner.  His sinful being is now covered by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His former sinful deeds are also covered by Jesus’ forgiveness.  He’s no longer a servant of his sinfulness, but rather a servant of sinners needing the same forgiveness as him.

Paul places himself under the authority of God’s word.  One might think that he was already doing this since he was a Pharisee.  However, Paul was using the Law of God to justify himself and his position.  This made him guilty of blasphemy and idolatry.   As a ruthless Pharisee he was worshipping a graven image, not made with his hands, but with his mind.  And in breathing murderous threats against the followers of Christ, he was blaspheming God the Son.  

From Pauls legal background as an Old Testament Lawyer, he knew very well that God is impartial.  And so, with sound teaching in the Law and knowledge of Jesus’ overflowing grace he knew God had to continue being patient with him because his human nature would still strive to be partial to wrongly justify or condemn those with whom God is perfectly patient. 

It was no longer about his Law or justification, but about Jesus’ fulfilment of the Law through his righteousness and our justification through his sacrificial death on the cross.  And this wasn’t done to Paul’s timeframe but in the fullness of God’s time it was finished by Jesus Christ.   This perfection continues to be finished by the power of the Holy Spirit, who seeks to bring the human spirit to the fullness of Jesus’ perfect patience.

Paul goes out of his way to embellish just who he is to Timothy, so Timothy does not place an expectation on Paul that makes Paul a god in Timothy’s eyes.  And so, Timothy does not make himself an impatient presumptuous super apostle to those to whom God calls him.

Patience goes hand in hand with forgiveness!  So too, impatience and frustration go hand in hand with unforgiveness.  Patience grows out of our judgement!  Judge one way and we forgive, judge the other way we don’t forgive.   However, Jesus’ perfect patience with Paul is an enduring lesson in love.

In his letter to the Romans Paul speaks of Jesus’ all-encompassing love.  But before he does, he speaks about the all-encompassing debased love of each human for themselves.  (Romans 1:21-32)

He says, “For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 3:22–24 ESV)

Impatience goes hand in hand with presumption.  Paul knew this too well when he acted with zealous fervour in ignorance under the Law.  He says, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”  (Romans 2:3–4 ESV)

Paul was acutely aware of Jesus’ perfect patience of him in his ministry.  There was no presumption he was any better than those he taught regardless of them being Jew or Greek, young or old, pastor or parishioner.  They all needed Jesus’ perfect patience, as did he!

Jesus’ perfect patience not only manifested itself in love at the cross.  But also, in his sending of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the helper of sinners who trust in Jesus Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, “we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11–12 ESV)

The writer goes on to cite Abraham as one who inherits through patience.  Abraham was patient but the greater weight of patience was from God who not only witnessed Abraham and Sarah’s disastrous affairs with Hagar and Ishmael, but also the nation that grew out of him all the way down to Paul.

Peter says in his second Epistle, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Jesus’ perfect patience is also a perfect faithfulness too.  Not only does he send the Holy Spirit to give us faith, but he also remains faithful to us as well.  Rather than expectation, he serves with example and is patient with us.

He gives us the fullness of time as he peels back the layers of our sinfulness while bringing this sinfulness into the light of his revelation and his forgiveness of our sin. 

We’re all on different parts of God’s road to salvation.  Some are more mature in the faith.  Like Saint Paul, we are called to recognise with ever increasing clarity the weakness in which we walk.  But at the same time learn with increasing knowledge the overflowing grace that shows its perfection in Jesus’ patience. 

The fullness of time will come for us all.  Only then will we know who has believed they’re sinners and who trusted Jesus’ perfect patience.  Till then let us, in the complete knowledge and acceptance of our weakness, walk together sharing with each other the perfect patience of Jesus Christ, who walks in our midst as our forgiving Saviour God, and gathers us together in him with the Holy Spirit.

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever.  Amen.  (1 Timothy 1:17 ESV)