A few weeks back, Jacki and I were blessed to be able to journey to Wisconsin Rapids to our district’s Pastor and Spouse retreat. This is one of the very few times a year that we get face to face interaction with other ministry couples from our district. It’s also a nice time to relax, spend time together as a couple – not just rush around trying to get things done. The speaker of the event was Dr. Scott Sherwood. Dr. Sherwood, or as Jacki and I know him as, Pastor Scott, was elected to be the president of Nazarene Bible College. Jacki and I had a lovely time reconnecting with Scott and Sherry Sherwood, swapping stories about life, ministry and parenting. 

During one of the sessions, Dr. Sherwood spoke about the Core Values of the church of the Nazarene. I could be remembering it wrong, but he didn’t just start out by saying, “Now we are going to talk about the three core values of the Church of the Nazarene. They’re important and you all need to know this. There will be a quiz later.” Nope. He just ninja snuck it in while we weren’t looking. I appreciated his messages so much, I couldn’t keep them to myself. That’s why I want to share with you some of what I heard at that retreat. 

One of the last things I expected to hear at the retreat full of ministry couples was a mini-course on the core of Nazarene values and beliefs. It was refreshing and I am grateful for it. Well let’s dive in to it, shall we? I have the dry erase board up this morning and I want to ask you to help me with the message today. I’m going to ask for you thoughts on particular topics. I think it would be of great benefit to hear what you can share from your experience. Let’s start with this this word: Christian.

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Have you ever been in a conversation with another Christian and perhaps you are discussing the very basics of Christianity? Of course we just did that in our recent message series here…but if someone were to describe The Gospel or the “Good News” what might they say?

• Jesus Died for the sins of the world
• Jesus’ Blood covers us and God can’t see our sins…
• Jesus is God’s son, perfect
• His sacrifice brings us to forgiveness and a restored relationship with God

What else might they say?

Would they go any further, do you suppose?

For many people this is THE good news. It ends with us being “OK” in God’s eyes – Justified. And there it is…we’re done. We’re good with God so…now we can go to church service and sing about that restored relationship, we might talk about it in front of others, we might study God’s word to understand it better…but it’s all done. It’s all good. We’re a Christian now and that’s…great. 

Christian – The Work God Did FOR you.

This Work  is described as the work God did for you. He Sent his Son. His Son Died for You. You accept the free gift of grace and forgiveness that He provides. The work that God did for you.

We believe Good news doesn’t stop there. If we were to categorize that information, that grouping of beliefs – We’d put that under “Christian.”

But once you accept that free gift, you actually don’t just stop there. As much as it might seem we focus an awful lot about getting a person to the place where they accept Christ and make a profession of faith in what Jesus has done…Jesus… isn’t done.

He doesn’t stop with what he did FOR us…He wants to do something IN us. He desires his Spirit to dwell within us. To guide our life, to help us love God with all that we are and love our neighbor as ourself. What we are talking about here is Holiness.

Holiness – What God Does IN you.

We might have a harder time with this one. I think it comes from a poorly conceived idea of what holiness or “being holy” actually is.   When you think of holiness – what things come to your mind? These could be good examples of holiness or perhaps not so good ones. What do you think about when you hear the word Holy or Holiness?

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We’ve probably had bad examples in our lives. Perhaps we got the idea that holiness means you can never make a mistake. That holiness means you can never sin again. This work that God wants to do in you and me is to conform our hearts, minds, and life to be more and more like his Son. He desires us to not struggle with the temptations that we’ve given into our whole lives. Christianity is not just about being forgiven over and over and over for the same sin, the same failing and HOPING…hoping that we are still forgiven when we die. That we re-upped our forgiveness right before biting the big one. No. 

God Creates a new heart in us. 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:10-12 NIV

Paul said it well in 2 Corinthians 5:17 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

In a Moment, Jesus can and does make you new, but you are also in the process of renewal. Moment by moment, his Spirit is shaping and molding you into the image of Christ. We follow Jesus, not just a set of teachings he “left behind” but the very son of God. 

Holy also refers to being set apart for His purposes. John records one of Jesus’ prayers in John 17. Starting at verse 14 and going to 19 Jesus prayed:

14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by ^d the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

John 17:14-19 NIV

Jesus Sets us apart for his purposes. The Holy spirit dwells within us and makes us new. The world doesn’t know what to do with a holiness person! It’s because Holiness and Sanctified people…are not of this world.

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Salvation – That work that God does for us.

Sanctification/Holiness – The work God does IN us. Making us more like Christ each Day. Setting us apart for his purposes.

So Christian…Holiness…and now Missional. 

This is the work He wants to do Through us. 

What is your first impression when you hear the words “Mission” or “Missionary?”

• I think of those occasional Sunday night services my parents brought me to when I was a young kid. I don’t remember a whole lot about what was said…truth be told I was probably turned around in the pew, playing with action figures. I do remember it was the only time we had a slide show or a video projection in the Sanctuary. You gotta remember, the late 80’s and early 90’s the best we had was a over head – dry erase projector. So any advanced technology got me to pay attention. We saw photos of the missionary traveling to villages and speaking to the people. We heard stories of churches being planted. Lots of people hearing the message of the Gospel for the first time in their own language. And many coming to a saving relationship with Jesus.

We look back up at 2 Corinthians 5:17 and keep reading.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV

And Just incase you forgot what that message of reconciliation is that we are to pass along…Paul spells it out to us and the Corinthians in verse 21:

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

So we are God’s Ambassadors. The Right relationship we have with God – Christian. The moment and process of making us like his Son – Holiness. That propels us to share this good news with the WORLD. How could we keep it to ourselves?

The Church of the Nazarene is 113 years old. When it formed, it was made up of many like minded Christian churches that had missionary works all over the world. The story goes that missionaries in the field got the news that their denomination had joined with others to form the Church of the Nazarene and they were like, “That’s Great!” Then promptly turned around and kept doing what they were doing. Missional work, brining the gospel to the world has always been at the core of what it means to be a Nazarene, even before the church existed.  

• Back to my experience of hearing missionaries when I was a kid:
  • Missionaries would also tell us of the infrastructure that our giving helped make possible. Wells dug and pumps installed. One of the greatest problems facing Third-world countries still to this day is low or no access to clean drinking water. It’s usually the first thing that missionary works try to address when coming into an area. When people spend all day traveling just to get clean water for their families, they can’t farm or work at any other job. Makes meeting their other needs difficult and when basic needs aren’t met, no one stops to listen to the gospel. 

Jesus knew this very well. When He did the miracle of the loaves and the fishes…twice! People were hungry, they needed food or they couldn’t hear the word. And Jesus provided. He took away that distraction so they were freed up to listen.

Missional work is more of a mindset than it is a program. Sure you can go to school and get your degree in Ministerial Missions and apply with the Global Minstry Center to become Missionary. However, a Christian who is being made into the likeness of Christ shares the good news of God wherever God sends them. You can be a missionary in Vernon County. In Wisconsin. In the Midwest. In the United States. Anywhere God calls you, if you are willing to share the good news, the peace of Christ, there …you are being missional. That is the third core belief. It’s what God wants to do through us.

Conclusion

Now it’s time for self-reflection. You see these Core Values aren’t something the Nazarene Church made up. They didn’t start the church and then say, 

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“Hey Phineus, what do you think we should do in this new church we just formed?” 

“Oh, I don’t know Pheobe, maybe Follow Jesus, let the Holy Spirit empower us and spread the good news all over the world. Does that sound like a good thing we should try?”

“It wouldn’t hurt!”

Rather, these are descriptions of How God has called us to live out the Truth. They aren’t goals to strive for, they are our identity. Christian. Holiness. Missional.

Reflect on this:

• Do you see these three values in your life? 
• How do they show themselves in your life?
• If they aren’t showing up in your life, might I suggest starting from the beginning.

“21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

• Do you feel like you’re Saved, but just barely? Like you have to renew your salvation every three seconds because you’re just not sure? The Holy Spirit wants to Sanctify you – cleanse you and set you apart for his purpose.
• Do know you’re in right standing with God. You see how He is making you more like his son every day…but you’re not sure what to do with your life – Might I suggest that you need a mission.
  • You are uniquely positioned to reach people that no one else will be able to reach. You – wherever you are in life, wherever you live…God has a mission for you.
  • It might just be as simple as being mission-minded in all you do as you do your normal things. 

Christian. Holiness. Missional. Core Values of the Church of the Nazarene. What God did and continues to do for, in and through people for his glorious purpose.

Today will be our last in the Series of Faith Basics. There are a LOT of things about the Christian faith we could talk and dig into, but my hope with this series was to understand the core of Christianity, moreover what a person must believe in order to be a Christian. Notice I didn’t say Baptist, Nazarene, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic or Pentacostal. Nope, Denominations are not at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. They ought to, however, have Christianity at their core and their specific focus is an expression of that faith.

If you’d like to listen to the audio recording of this message, The Spotify player is at the bottom of this post.

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The very key things that must be believed and understood for someone to be a Christian, or a “Christ-follower.” :

Salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9 NIV)

Faith is believing in what you can not see.

Going further with the idea of Faith in Jesus being the only way to get to God we looked at the illustration of this stool. You can intellectually believe it will hold you up, but you will never know for sure until you put your whole wait on it, trust in it and sit down. The same goes for trusting Jesus for Salvation. You can look at evidence of other’s lives turned around when they turned to God, you can be persuaded by sound and reasonable arguments, but you have not put your trust in God until you’ve committed to sit in the chair. Truly believe in your heart of hearts he’s saved you.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Heb 11:1 NIV

Another great example of this is that we ask for a verbal assurance of belief before we do a “Believers Baptism.” Do you Accept Jesus as Lord of your life and believe he saves you now?

Then we looked at The Bible.

This book of books. It’s an ancient tome. It’s an encyclopedia of sorts. It’s a guide. But above and beyond all the book types and writing styles contained therein, it was and continues to be the Living Word of God. God inspired the Authors of the books. The Holy Spirit continues to inspire our hearts and minds as we read and study the Bible. Telling us general things for all people and also telling us specific things meant just for us.

One of the 10 commandments is You shall not steal. That’s a general rule. But what if the Holy Spirit alights your heart to notice that at work, you might be taking too long to do things or maybe chit chatting too much when you are at work. The Holy Spirit might help you connect the dots of “stealing” to “stealing time and money from employers.” That’s just an example, but I trust the Holy Spirit has spoken to each of us about personal changes God desires for us, and our job is to listen to them and not ignore them.

Beside all this, the bible is the trustworthy place for find the plan of salvation. If we didn’t have this, how would we know how to become a Christian or introduce others to their fresh start in Jesus Christ?

Last week we got a little spooky and talked about the Afterlife.

It was an overview from three of Jesus’ teachings. The main things to remember that Christians believe in faith from scripture are:

Final Judgement is Final.

People get separated into two groups, each with their own eternal destination.

And Hell is eternal Separation from God. Heaven is eternal connection with God.

In this post we will look at the Christ – Who is Jesus, anyway?

You might be wondering, Didn’t we already talk about Jesus? Yes but there is a bit more to what we believe about him that must be addressed if one is to be a devoted follower of him.

Who is Jesus anyway?

Savior/Messiah

Not just personal savior but THE Savior. 

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Mark 8:27-30 NIV

• Jesus isn’t your homeboy. He isn’t your Boss. He is first and foremost the Savior, the Messiah of the World. Sure there are great examples of Jesus being our best friend or even our master, our boss or Lord…if you will. But at the core of Christianity, Jesus is THE CHRIST. No ifs, ands or buts about it. 
• It’s interesting here in this passage, Jesus is checking with his followers. He asks about the word on the street…”what are the people saying about me?” But it all boils down to what His closest say about him. “You are the Messiah” “You are The Christ.” Good, now keep that to yourself.

Experience is the Best Teacher

Why might he give this instruction? Because to truly own Jesus as Savior, Messiah, Lord…you’ve got to experience for yourself. You’ve got to believe by FAITH. Allow me to give another analogy that might be terribly flawed…but here goes.

Have you ever ridden a roller coaster before? Imagine you’re a person who’s never been on a roller coaster. Your friend is  absolutely enamored with roller coasters. They try to talk to you about going on a ride with them. They describe the twists and turns. The flips and drops. The whiplash when you come to a quick stop at the end. They sound like they enjoy that kind of thing, but you don’t share their passion. Their experience is not convincing to you. You’ve never ridden on a coaster and by the sound of it, it sounds pretty scary! You don’t know what you are missing, because you’ve never tried it yourself. 

But imagine one day you just up and decide to go on a small ride and surprisingly, you begin to like roller coasters. You start to understand what your friend was telling you. It might be a bit frightening at times, but also thrilling. For you to understand that fully, you had to actually go on a roller coaster. You had to experience it for yourself.

That’s what the disciples did and that’s what Peter confessed here in Mark’s Gospel. They confess their belief in what they’ve experienced. Jesus is the Messiah and he does save and will save. They believed, but Jesus made a point that that message was not something you preach…but rather something you experience. Why even after the resurrection, Thomas eventually wrapped his head around it. Jesus shows himself to Thomas and his only response to the Resurrected Jesus is “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28b NIV)

Jesus is the Son of God

In Matthew’s account of the previous interchange between the disciples and Jesus, Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say I am?” 

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

(Matt 16:16 NIV)

This idea of Jesus being the Son of God was not something Peter simply made up. Luke records the angelic prophecy about Jesus.

“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:25 ESV)

Now, in the New Testament era and Greek/Roman influence, being the “son of god” was a claim that Julias’ Caesar made about himself. He let everyone know. It was a way to push his will upon the masses as if they were divine orders.

By comparison, Jesus and others made the claim about Jesus- whether outright or veiled…and then Jesus did things that backed up his deity.

• Various Miracles
• Forgiveness of sinners
• Bringing the dead back to life
• Being resurrected himself

That last one might be tricky. “A deity can’t die!” That might be true if the deity doesn’t choose mortal form and “Become flesh and dwell among us” But that’s exactly what John says Jesus, son of God, one of the heads of the Trinity, did. Talking about his life in John 10:18 Jesus says this:

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:18 NIV)

So Julias Caesar talked the talk…but still died and stayed dead. Jesus walked the walk and died, resurrected, and he still lives today!

Fully Man and Fully God

Though we just touched on Jesus’ deity, it can’t be overlooked that some people throughout history have questioned his nature. Christians believe in his two whole perfect natures: Fully God and Fully man. 

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. But what about his humanity. What was the point of that? Hebrews tells us…

Why both natures.

17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[a] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

(Heb 2:17 NIV)

And also…

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

(Heb 4:15 NIV)

He is able to be our High Priest. He is our advocate who can also relate to the temptations of humanity – Yet he didn’t give in to those temptations. 

Jesus is Exactly Who He Said He is

This one might be hard to swallow for some, but again we build on the previous Basics of Faith, especially belief in the Word of God. You would think that a teaching series on the basics of the Christian faith would spend more time comparing it to other religions and faiths. Though that may help us gain perspective on other’s beliefs in order to better reach them with the Gospel, I am not an expert in other religions. The bible doesn’t teach us to follow anything other than The Way.

Some don’t believe Jesus ever existed. The problem with this belief is it’s not based on anything other than feeling and lack of research. Historical documents outside the bible recorded Jesus’ existence.

Some believe Jesus was simply a Good Moral teacher

If we believe He was a good teacher, but can’t accept all of what he teaches, we approach him much like people would approach Confucius. Interesting, wise sayings…but I’m not giving my whole life to follow strictly the teachings you can find in a fortune cookie! More to this point…

Author and Theologian, C.S. Lewis has this to say about the topic.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

(Mere Christianity, The Shocking Alternative p52)

So we must identify what Jesus was and is. Was he 1)A madman, 2) A liar or 3)who he said he was: The Son of God. Christianity says “Door number three.” All his messaging and the work he accomplished and continues to accomplish are tied back into his nature and what Christ-followers believe about Jesus. He was and is the Son of God. 

Christianity says “Door number three.”

Take note of this, though:

• What we believe about Christ does not affect who He really is. He is above our labels. (If we say he is a fraud, that doesn’t make him one.) We believe the reality of the thing, not make it so by our beliefs.

Jesus is not like Tinkerbell from the Peter Pan movie, “Hook” Have you seen that? Peter has grown up in our world and forgotten about Neverland. Hook comes and kidnaps Peter’s children to draw him back to Neverland. Tinkerbell comes to get Peter and bring him to Neverland but the appearance of a fairy makes him think he has lost his mind. He tells her he doesn’t believe in fairies. She faints death, since belief in her is what keeps her alive. Peter feels bad and Tinkerbell tells him to clap his hands and shout, “I DO believe in fairies!” to restore her to life. He does and the movie goes on.

Like I said, Jesus is NOT like that. He does not need us to believe he is the messiah for him to be so. He just simply is. Christians, we acknowledge the truth of reality. We may do so by helping items such as archeological, other historical evidence, personal testimonies, personal supernatural experience, and divine revelation. Those only stand to reinforce something that must be believed by FAITH. 

Savior/Messiah

His role, his function if you will… is to save

Jesus is the Son of God 

His divine nature makes his work possible. And because He is God’s son and calls us brothers and sisters, we are adopted into the promises bestowed on the Son. 

Fully Man and Fully God

He is the perfect High Priest, the Best Advocate for us. He understands our sufferings and our trappings of sin, but he did not fall prey to them. He is the only one who can speak to God on our behalf.

Jesus is Exactly Who He Said He is

Jesus is Trustworthy. The only other options would be that he was a liar or an insane person. Both of those don’t bode well for those who followed him for the last 2,000+ years. He’s not just some rabbi, some great moral teacher. He is the Son of God, the Messiah.

Conclusion

But what do we do with all this? It’s always the question I tried to figure out at the end of a message. If you or I wanted Christian history education, we could take an online course with Nazarene Bible College or Olivet University. Information is not a bad thing, but it must move us toward action. What is the action or the change that this information draws us toward?

1. Strengthening of our own faith. “I know my savior lives, He lives within my heart!” It might reinforce the things we already believe. “I always believed Jesus was who he said he was…I always believed God’s word was true, but now I’m even more assured of it!” Personal development in faith is one of the main reasons people actively seek out bible studies and intentionally listen to sermons and teachings. They want to GROW. Deepen and Strengthen their faith. If this is you today, wonderful! 

2. Sharing the faith with others. You remember that cheesy saying that parents might have said to their bickering children, “Sharing is caring?” Well it’s not just a silly phrase to help your kids not to fight. In sharing the faith with another, you are truly tossing them a life-preserver! Knowing and being able to share these Faith Basics can help your friend, family member or acquaintance not feel so overwhelmed by all the religious jargon they may have expected. Maybe by presenting things to them simply, they will really hear it…for the first time. Moreover they will have seen it in YOU.
3. Situating believers to do the same. Why did the gospel of Jesus reach as far as it has? Of course because it’s God’s will, but to accomplish that he used people who made followers…not of themselves…but more followers of Jesus. More Disciples. They knew the Basics of Faith. It led them personally deeper in a relationship with Christ. They shared the faith and then guided others to do the same. But Faith is not some chain letter or email that gives you bad luck if you don’t forward it on to 17 people. Faith in Christ creates the desire to share, the desire to make disciples…wherever we go.

Strengthening our Faith. Sharing our Faith. Situating the Next Generation to go and make Christlike disciples in the Nations. It all starts with the Basics of the Christian Faith.

At the start of this message, my wife and I did a little skit I wrote. If you’d like to read it, use it, preform it…I permission granted! Here is a link to the skit, “Heaven or Hell?”

If you’d like to listen to the Audio record of this message (it does not include the skit performance) click HERE for Spotify, or scroll to the player at the bottom of this post.

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Heaven or Hell?

It’s a very real question, one that needs to be posed and needs to be answered. Not “Do you believe heaven and hell are real?” But rather, “Where are you headed next?”  

Today I want to look at three teachings on the afterlife in the New Testament. These are teachings of Jesus so we will want to listen very carefully. Since Christianity revolves around following Christ and accepting his gift of salvation…It would behoove us to find out what He said on the matter.

In the end, I want to draw some general observations about these teachings, how they apply to Christianity and how they might motivate us to guide others toward an eternity with God.

See there was a big reason we looked at God’s word last week. If you can’t put your faith in God and His word, you’re not going to look to the Bible as the authority on this topic (or any for that matter). We started with the plan of salvation a few weeks back, but salvation from what, exactly? Are we being saved for or toward something? I hope to answer those questions this morning and we will start with punishment rather than reward. 

Let’s talk about Hell. “Is Hell for real?”

The answer of course is yes. The Bible (remember that, the authoritative word of God. Inspired for instruction, correction, rebuking…that bible.)

Let’s look at a verse from Revelation about Hell.

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Rev 21:8 ESV

Sometimes the bible just comes out and says something and we are like, “What, WAIT! That sounds too harsh. I fit into some of those categories! I might be cowardly and a liar, but I’m not that bad!” 

We can truly convince ourselves of many wrong things if we try hard enough, right? Well, enough denial of Heaven and Hell. Let’s see what Christ said about the topic. The following three teachings informed Christian thought on the afterlife. It stood on the framework from Jewish thought and goes further, pulling back the curtain…

3 key passages that informed the Christian view of the afterlife.

I’m including links to the passages, but not the passages themselves. You may also want to read it in your own preferred version of the bible. Biblegateway.com is an excellent resource for comparative bible studies.

The Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

First we meet these two guys: The Rich man and Lazarus. It’s always best to introduce you main characters, so we care about what happens to them later in the story. These two men are very different, even though they live in close proximity to one another. They both suffer from the same illness: mortality. This teaching tells us they both died and were burried.

Then we hear about this Heavenly place, Abraham’s side. It is a place of reward.

Some bible translations may say “Abraham’s bosom.” Think of a parent hugging and holding their child really tight. I picture a tight, comforting hug.

On the flip side, the rich man end of in Hades and Hades is a place of torment.

This story is recorded of course in the New Testament. The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Makes perfect sense for the word Hades to be used here. It’s simply the place of the dead. The Old testament examples of the place of the dead come up with the word: Sheol.

“The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.”

Psalm 9:17 ESV

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Daniel 12:2 ESV

What in essence is “hell?” Eternal separation from God. What’s more torturous than not being with the one who loves you most?

Those in the Old Testament era may not have gotten a clear picture of this. This also helps me to realize  that all I know and believe about Heaven and Hell, it could just be a mere shadow of reality on that side of eternity. So I boil it down to Eternal separation from God. 

What else do we learn about this place after both men die?

No going between each place

There is a great chasm placed between them. Lazarus can’t come to the place of torture and the rich man can’t leave. Abraham’s hands are tied!

Also we see a role reversal.

In Life, The Rich man had all the comforts life could afford. In the afterlife he was eternally “Uncomfortable.”

In Life, Lazarus was tortured and more than uncomfortable. What he receives is the comfort of Abraham in the life after. 

Goats and the Sheep (Matt 25:31-46) 

Sheep – Just cared for “Jesus” without knowing it. Natural outpouring of him in them.

Goats – Did not care for the least of these out of the lack of Christ in them.

Action follows the heart. What controls and leads our hearts controls our actions or inactions.

Action follows the heart. What controls and leads our hearts controls our actions or inactions.

Final Judgement of all – two types of people. The Did and the Did-Nots

The Narrow Door (Luke 13:22-30)

Final Judgement is final. No do-overs.

Lots of people will try to squeeze their way in, but only a few will make it.

• When I was in college, I heard about a tragic event that happened in a nightclub in Chicago. Apparently a fight broke out an pepper spray was used to break up the fight, but it induced panic. 1,500 people tried to escape the club at the same time crushing, others in the door way. 21 people died and 50 others were injured.
• I picture something like this, climbing over others…trying one way or another to make it through that door, but not all do.

Heven: The place where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophet  – but others will be tossed out!

It’s also a place where a great big feast with people from all over the world! (Foreshadow of the Great commission being fulfilled.)

We choose our eternal destination by the choices we make here on earth. No I’m not talking about doing good, nice stuff. There are not enough beached whales for you to push back into the ocean, enough poor people you personally sponsor with your finances, there’s not enough good deeds to secure your ticket to Heaven.  

It’s a free gift of salvation from Jesus Christ. Do you want to be with him forever or apart from him forever?

To recap:

Conclusion

1. Hell is for real. It may, at times seem metaphorical. Many times familiar imagery is used in scripture to help us grasp the unfathomable. That surely applies to Hell. A place of everlasting death and torment. It is a very real potential destination for us.
2. We choose hell by our rejection of Jesus as Lord in our life RIGHT NOW. If we decide we don’t want him here, he won’t be there (in eternity) and he will leave us to try and be the lord of our own lives. 
3. Heaven is for real. And we choose Heaven by the opposite. If Jesus is Lord of my life he is and will be the Lord of my afterlife. I’ve got to live each day with Him as Lord. My body is not my own. My time is not my own. My money, resources…everything.
4. Heaven is not just the absence of torture or pain. Sure there is that:

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Rev 21:4 ESV

Heaven is the very presence of the living God. (Rev 21:10-27 ESV)

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Rev 21:10-27 ESV

Sorry for no blog post last week. I was blessed to be at a Pastor and spouse retreat with my wife and other ministry couples from around Wisconsin. Quick plug: www.wisnaz.com can tell you a bit more about my denomination (Nazarene) and our structure and mission here Wisconsin.

Today we are going to resume with our series called, “Faith Basics.” Christianity can seem overwhelming to someone who has not ever been exposed to our “lingo.” That’s why if I use an uncommon word, I’ll define it so we all are on the same page.

If you would like to listen to the audio recording of this message, scroll to the bottom and click the Spotify player.

Last time we looked at Faith itself, determining that it is believing in what you cannot see…what is yet to be. Things hoped for. Faith is fundamental in what we believe about Jesus and his work of saving us from the punishment of our sins. Jesus’ work is unseen. One has to accept his gift and believe what Jesus said. Put our whole weight on him. Our faith. We don’t know that the stool will hold us up for sure until we take that chance and sit down. Same for Faith in Christ. 

Today we will be looking in the bible and talking about the bible. That’s right, The Bible. God’s Word. The Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments. Some people call it life’s instruction manual, but it is so much greater than that. We are going to talk about (1) what is the bible?, (2) why is it important to the Christian Faith?, and ask the question, (3)“How is the bible still relevant to the world today?”

Though those are the main questions, I just have to start with one more: “What does scripture say about itself?” That’s a meta-sermon if I ever heard one! Paul was writing a follow up letter to one of his apprentices, Timothy. Paul is giving encouragement and direction as Timothy learns to lead in the church he pastors. In that letter, Paul says this:

 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3:14-17 NIV

That’s an interesting thing to put in this book. “This book is good for you! All of it is breathed from God, God-inspired. It’s useful in personal and professional growth. Dig into it so you can be equipped to do what God desires you to do every day.” That’s the Matt paraphrase.

But what is this book? There is an old illustration about 6 blind men and an elephant.

There are so many variations of this folk story, but the most poetic of the bunch comes from John Godfrey Saxe. 

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT.

A HINDOO FABLE.

I.

IT was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

II.

The First approached the Elephant,

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bawl:

“God bless me!—but the Elephant

Is very like a wall!”

III.

The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried: “Ho!—what have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ‘t is mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear!”

IV.

The Third approached the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up and spake:

“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant

Is very like a snake!”

V.

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,

And felt about the knee.

“What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain,” quoth he;

“‘T is clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!”

VI.

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: “E’en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!”

VII.

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant

Is very like a rope!”

VIII.

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So, oft in theologic wars

The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance

Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant

Not one of them has seen!

While this use of the folk story identifies something more about theological disagreements, I’d like us to consider what people think about the bible itself.

Some think it’s a historical book, full of stories and records. Births and deaths. Some look at it and see wise sayings and practical teachings for life. Some see it as a book that tells you the future, the meaning of life and everything. Maybe even later on, it’s a specific road map of the early Christian movement, with epic first-person story-telling. Even some see the latter portions and believe the bible is personal correspondence that somehow pertains to our lives today.

Well, it’s not just one of those things. It’s all of those things. Like our poem about the elephant, there are many pieces that make up The Book known as The Bible, but it is altogether one.

I first started to wonder, where did we get the word “Bible” from?

The Good Book

The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word “Biblos” (βιβλίοs) which translates as “book.” That’s kind of why people will refer to it as the “Good Book.”

I wondered, since that was Greek for book, what did people in the Old Testament era call the Bible? Well they referred to it as “The Law and the Prophets.” But as you might know, the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures make up much more than just those two sections. 

• The Law: this a big section of the beginning of the Old Testament. Genesis through Deuteronomy, God establishes creation, sets boundaries, mankind breaks them and sins. The Law is the direction of man trying to live out the life God desires us to live out. Do discover our need for him and draw near to him.
• History: While those 5 books do give us stories and timelines, they aren’t part of the section specifically dedicated to history. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, then some books later on the Jews are in exile during the writings about: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. These books continue to showcase the God who cares, who loves, who can’t abide sin because He’s Holy. 
• Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon all fall into this category. If you’ve read Job before you might wonder why Poetry. His story reads similar to The “Iliad” of the “Epic of Gilgamesh”. You’ve got shifts between first and third person story telling, long dialogue between friends coping with loss, and God himself breaking through in the end to clear things up. I am not saying this story didn’t happen, I am saying it was presented in the vein of an epic poem.
• Prophets: These are words of warning. Most times they pertain to the people of Israel and Judah, but sometimes  prophecy was for foreign countries. Any time the People of God strayed and didn’t repent, consequences followed and the prophets were right there to describe what would happen. Sometimes they were believed, but in most cases they were believed only after it was too late.

As a Christ follower, we affirm these scriptures. These are the scriptures that today make up the Hebrew Bible: The Torah and the Tanakh. Jews today use these same passages in their worship and song. So where did the rest of the bible come from and what is the New Testament made up of?

• Biography: One chart I found separating out the New Testament books called the Gospels biographies. Many just classify them as “the gospels.” These are the stories of Jesus’ birth (in most accounts), life and earthly ministry, sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension. But it’s not just an account, but interwoven you’ll find practical instruction and teachings that guided the early church.  Gospel translates to “Good News” so the purpose behind these biographies is to give an account of the good news of God in Jesus Christ. From the moment he came to dwell among men to the moment he went to prepare a place for us in Heaven. The Gospels are so much more than the personal history of a first century Rabbi.
• History: We had a section on History in the Old Testament. Various stories in the general history of the world, specific dates and times. The events were chronicled and they were more than just folk lore. In the New Testament an entire book is devoted to what the followers of Jesus did after Jesus ascended into Heaven. It’s called “The ACTS of the Apostles” Or the Book of Acts for short. It chronicles major events in the history of the apostles as they were sent-out to preach the good news. Miracles to ongoing persecution, this book holds much history but also instructions. Examples for how to and how not to live with other believers in Christ.
• Epistles: This section of the New Testament refers to the letters from leaders in the Christian Faith to certain churches or leaders of those churches. Paul wrote the most of these but James, John, Peter, Jude, and the author of Hebrews got in on the instructive letter writing. These weren’t just brief, “oh I miss you, hope to see you soon! TTFN.” They were letters that addressed specific topics and problems. They clarify theological confusions and give direction on handling interpersonal conflicts among believers and with authorities outside the faith.
• Prophecy: One more book at the conclusion of the Bible is very much in the vein of the prophecies from the Old Testament. With its vast imagery and divine word from God for the World, the book of Revelation reveals not only what this world will endure but reveals the one whom the whole old and new are a testament to: Jesus himself. It reveals and shows us Jesus and it is he who also does the revealing. There are words of warning and judgement for those in Christ who are not following what they believe, as John writes to the Seven churches in just the first few chapters.

These are the classic, or orthodox views of Christian Scriptures. 66 books in total, from Genesis to Revelation. We believe the bible perfectly reveals the good news of salvation, that salvation we talked about just a couple of weeks ago. We trust by faith.

So that’s what the Bible is. A God-inspired and fueled compilation of writings that reveal God and his plan for humanity.

That’s all well and good, but you might say “I’ve read ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul!’ I’ve read ‘Your Best Life Now!’ I’ve Read ‘The Purpose-driven Life.’ All of those are inspiring. Why is the Holy Bible so important to Christianity?”

Why is The Bible important to the Christian faith (and what we believe about the bible)?

The Bible is divinely inspired – We believe That God moved and spoke to each recorder of the books of scripture. The faith in Jesus that is revealed in scripture, the example set forth by the disciples, is not a man-made religion But a God-initiated Relationship.

The Bible reveals not a man-made religion, but a God-initiated Relationship.

Christians affirm this, though sometimes we rely on the Bible like we would a search engine. When my windshield wiper was messed up on my car, I searched online on how to fix it myself. It worked and I never needed to go to that website again. However if we treat the bible like a search engine that can fix our problems just by flipping open some pages, we are missing opportunities for growth. Joshua records a personal conversation with Yahweh himself. God gives Joshua instructions for leading the people of Israel after Moses had died. He said to Joshua: 

“8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

Joshua 1:8 NIV

He didn’t just want Joshua to turn to God’s word when he needed help, or when he was bored or when the Israelites were whiny. He and the people were to keep the words on their lips and think about it all the time.

Why do Christian read God’s word daily? Because we know this promise from God to Joshua and accept it ourselves. God instructs us to dig into his word and keep it on our mouths, hearts and minds.

Not only did God say to dig into his word, but Hebrews 4:12 says his word is alive and digs into us!

“12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12 NIV

It may seem uncomfortable, but The Christian faith is all about Change. Jesus’ sacrifice, was and is intended to change our relationship with God. God’s Word gets into us and shows us things not yet fully given over to Him. One thing that God wants of those called according to his name is purity, Holiness. But how can someone be pure or holy? Probably not hard for you to believe that the bible has something to say about this. Psalm 119:9:

“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.”

Psalm 119:9 NIV

Why is the bible important to the Christian Faith? Not only does it record the history of…history, but God’s love story for us. His deep sacrifice for us. His desire and help lead us “Not into temptation, but to deliver us from evil.” 

Like I said last time, none of that matters if you don’t put your trust in God’s word to do what He wants it to do in your life. It’s living and active. It’s not just a website you flip to for car advice. It’s life changing. It’s good news. It’s His love story for us.

In what ways is the Bible still relevant today?

It should hopefully be obvious that the bible is important to Christians. It is the history of where we, mankind came from, God’s loving plan for us, and our part in it all. But in what ways is this old book still relevant to our day to day life? You might think, “I’m reading in the book of Joshua about physical battles being fought, but I’m just trying to survive until my next paycheck.” 

Jesus has this to tell us in Matthew chapter 6:

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:25-27 NIV

Fear and worry are always relevant. They are always around. Jesus comforts and assures us, We’ve got nothing to fear or worry about. Just trust in him.

What about life and death? New life comes in the form of a baby and death might come all of a sudden or slowly, day by day. Martha and Mary had just lost their brother to illness. He’d been dead 4 days and Jesus came to the funeral very late. He tells Martha the following:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

John 11:25-26 NIV

He raised Lazarus from the dead. Believe it or not, he still can do so. He has victory over death and it couldn’t even keep a hold on Jesus when he died. He didn’t stay dead. We have the hope that even through new life and trials of sickness and death, we can believe in Jesus and find everlasting life.

What is it you deal with? The bible not only has relevant answers and instructions for you on that topic, but wants to dig deep into you as you dig into it. God’s word is living and active. 

Conclusion

The Bible, 66 book compiled into one big tome. History, poetry, letters of instruction, prophecy, and biography. It was historically handed down, and in some hands and mouths it has brought life. In some it has been wielded as a weapon. One to control the masses into following whatever ruling group or person is in power. Yet, we have this hope that even though some have used scripture as a tool to preserve their power, God’s real purpose shines through. It is the Good News. In Genesis 50, Joseph’s brothers are afraid he was holding a grudge against them. When their father died, they feared Joseph would finally make them pay for selling him into slavery.

“19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Genesis 50:19-20 NIV

God’s word is a weapon. Paul referred to it as “the Sword of the spirit.” But the bible is never used to attack people, but rather affirm God’s love for man, his plan for us and his call upon us to share the good news.

This morning we are continuing on with our Sermon from a Sack theme. Visual aids can be helpful in connecting physical concepts, tangible things…with spiritual things. We see the physical all day long, but behind it, there is the spiritual. There are the greater, deeper things that God wants to get across to us. So each message I’m pulling out an object that relates to the story at hand. We’re also continuing to look at passages in Jeremiah. God was so good to give Jeremiah explicit instructions on what object lesson to use. He didn’t have a book on creative sermon illustrations. He just had God and his willingness to do what God told him.

Today we will read the scripture as the story unfolds. 

Let’s begin with verse 1-2

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”

Jeremiah 18:1-2 NIV

Jeremiah receives a direct message, a personal message from the Lord. “Go to this specific place.” God doesn’t tell Jeremiah everything. The only other detail is that that location is where he will get the Lord’s Message.

Have you ever gotten a sense you needed or wanted to go to some location?

Maybe you knew it was a place you could draw near to hearing from God, maybe you didn’t until you were there. What was that place? __________________

For me, there were various places. In college, I would go to the small music practice rooms in the Fine Arts Building. I am not skilled at piano by any shape of the imagination, but I know notes well enough to play a little by ear. So in my times of stress, distress, and confusion I would go into that closed room, lock the door and pluck away at those keys. It opened my heart and gave me time to deal with whatever I was facing.

Maybe the place you go is your favorite chair or couch, with bible and notepad in hand. Maybe a pen and paper to write down what you hear from God. Maybe a cup of coffee, tea, or soda by your side as well. I think we all need some time alone with our thoughts and with God. Surely he can speak to us in the midst of a crowded area, but there is just something clarifying about being isolated from distractions. It can help take away the question of “Is God really saying that to you?” In the quiet stillness, there is very little doubt when God speaks.

So Jeremiah is told to go and  in verse 3 it says:  

3 So I went down to the potter’s house,

Jeremiah follows those instructions. The interesting thing about a word from God is when he gives you specifics, i.e. where you will receive a word from Him…you CAN’T force it anywhere else. I know this as it relates to me and sermon writing. I know when I’ve plowed on with a theme passed when God has said “That’s enough” or “Your choosing entertaining topics over biblical ones. Not a great call.” I find I hear that when I hit “A Wall.” I can’t seem to go any farther with a topic and the instruction or information from the passage doesn’t even make sense to me…the communicator! Why should I pass it along and make others even more confused. That’s usually when I stop, pray some more and try reading other passages.

We find clarity when we go where God wants us to go.

Verse 3 continues with Jeremiah’s observations:

“…and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Pottery 101

Here’s the moment you probably saw coming. I have in the sack today: clay. We found several fun colors of oven baked clay at Hobby Lobby the other day. They have all kinds of clay for different artistic pursuits. Air Dry, Never dries out clay, oven baked and the kind that we are most likely familiar with when we see pottery at the store is kiln-fired pottery. We will talk about baking the clay here in a few minutes, but let’s start where the potter starts: A plain hunk of clay.

There’s nothing really special about this clay. Sure it has color, but other than that…if I put it in the oven right now, it could become a paperweight, and that’s about it. But if I pitch, and squish, and smoosh…I can form it into something other than a paper weight. Jeremiah sees the potter making a pot. There are a few techniques in making a pot or a dish. You can get a wheel to spin the clay on, get it nice and wet and hold your fingers and your hands just right so the pot begins to form through pressure and centrifugal force. Another technique is the coil method. You roll long strands of clay, (like a snake or french fry) and you use some of your other clay to make a flat, round base. Then you start wrapping the coil along the outline of the base, going back over the previous piece of coil as you get to it. As you go along, you’ll want to score (or make hash marks on the clay so it sticks together, also applying a little moisture.) This helps bond the pieces together when they are baked. 

The Key thing about pottery is that you are making something useful or pretty out of something that is not.

Sometimes when you begin making a piece, you discover “Something’s not quite right.” I would venture to say that most times when this happens is because something structural has gone wrong. The problem with a structural problem in a piece of pottery is that no matter how much you work with it, shaping it to counterbalance that weakness in the structure…the weakness still remains. 

Clay has some amazing properties. Until it’s dried and hardened, it still has hope of being remade. The potter Jeremiah watched working in this chapter takes that pot he was working on…this shaped, unfired clay, and smashed is back down into a hunk of shapeless clay. Then he makes something new. He doesn’t try to make the same pot, but a new one! And the scripture says he shaped “it as seemed best to him.” 

That’s what potters do. They pull the potential of a pot or cup or container out of a lifeless hunk of clay. Let’s look at verse 5…it says: 

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Jeremiah 18:5-6 NIV

Israel…can’t I do the same with you? Remake you, make you a new as it pleases me? It’s important to note: He says “…clay in the hand of the potter.” In the Hand. A hunk of clay just sitting there isn’t going to become anything except dried out. But if the clay is in my hands, I can do something with it. God says the same to Israel. If you are in my hand I can make you and mold you how I see if. If you are just sitting there, outside my will? You’ll just dry out. At best, you’ll be a paperweight. Let’s read on starting with verse 7.

7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

Jeremiah 18:7-10 NIV

We need no more evidence of this than the story of Jonah and Nineveh. Jonah knew God would be merciful, that’s one reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh. He wanted the people to be destroyed for their great wickedness. But when Jonah finally declared to the city that they would be destroyed, they repented and God relented. He didn’t bring on the destruction he’d planned. The flipside is very evident in scripture as well. Israel and Judah didn’t honor God. They worshipped useless idols and sought after gods rather than Yahweh. Though God had planned and proclaimed good things for them, they were led into slavery, captivity, and exile. Everytime the people of God don’t follow God’s plans, they are like a pot telling the potter, “No a little more off the side.”

The Potter doesn’t need feedback from the pot he is forming.

He can smash it to a formless hunk and start over again.

11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you.

Jeremiah 18:11 NIV

WE’RE TOAST

STOP. So if that’s all the people Jeremiah spoke to heard, they’d say “OH NO! We’re doomed. Let’s just keep on sinning. Keep on getting deeper into evil. However, If they actually listened to the previous statements concerning how God operates…Being merciful to those who repent, reconsider giving out promised blessings when blessed nations go sour… They would not be surprised by his next words. Let’s continue with verse 11.

So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’

Jeremiah 18:11c

God is telling each individual: You need to change. Not some systemic, societal thing…but each individual taking responsibility to say “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I will change my ways and actions.”    Sometimes knowing the inner workings of the heart is a blessing and a curse. Here God knows exactly how they will respond. Verse 12:

12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”

Jeremiah 18:12 NIV

Ok. This is God being very “on-the-nose.” Nobody proclaims they are stubborn. Stubborn people usually say, “I’m not stubborn, you’re stubborn.” Or “It’s not being stubborn because…I’m right and you’re not!” Here, God wants to make a point. By their actions and attitude of their hearts, they are saying “I desire what I want and nothing’s going to change that.”

13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations:

    Who has ever heard anything like this?

A most horrible thing has been done

    by Virgin Israel.

Ask around! Have you ever heard of a people so stubborn they would say “I’m so stubborn, I’m not going to change my ways, even given the chance!” He continues ins verse 14: 

Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?

Jeremiah 18:14 NIV

If you didn’t figure it out, there are a LOT of rhetorical questions by God in the Bible. This is one of them. “Do mountains have snow? Does water flow?” Basically asking, “does the water cycle in Lebanon cease?” The answer: NO. It’s Consistent. Dependable. If that force of nature is dependable…what is it compared to? Let’s look at verse 15.

15 Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths.

They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. 16 Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. 17 Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.”

Jeremiah 18:15-17 NIV

This last part really hurts. “Show them my back” makes me think of the expression to “turn your back to someone.” It’s this idea of disowning them. Perhaps the more important element here is what they are missing out on:“I won’t show them my face.”

God’s Blessing

When I was at Olivet, I sang in Orpheus Choir. It was our tradition to finish each and every concert with the song “The Lord Bless You and Keep you.” It’s based on Numbers 6:24-26.

24 ‘“The Lord bless you and keep you;

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”’

Twice in those 3 verses God’s face being toward or on someone was a GOOD thing. Something to bless someone with.

You know the feeling of disrespect. Someone looks away from you when talking to you. Perhaps mutters something as they leave the room and you just know it was about you. God’s great grace and peace come through the venue of his wonderful face upon us.

The people Jeremiah delivers this message to receive no such blessing. Jeremiah 18:18

18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”

Jeremiah 18:18 NIV

The first part is easy enough to digest. Let’s plot against Jeremiah. We disagree with him and the judgement he’s heaping on us. But that last part:

“Let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.” It’s a bit confusing to think of someone verbally attacking another because of the things they say…all the while ignoring the things he said.

Here’s what I think there saying: 

Let’s not give credence to his warnings and judgement. They can’t be real because they just can’t…   Let’s instead attack him personally. His Character. Not the ideas or the word from the Lord, but Him personally.

I’m sad to say, ladies and gentlemen, the world hasn’t changed much since these hooligans struck back against Jeremiah. 

It seems most people are not able to properly, intellectually debate ideas, but rather they attack the people with the ideas. They attack the people themselves. They attack their character. We see perfect examples of this every election cycle and it has gotten into our daily thoughts and procedures. Always thinking the worst of people.

Conclusion

Well Jeremiah’s story doesn’t end there. We will look at another passage next week and another item from this brown paper sack. But I wonder how it must have felt to be Jeremiah. Here’s God calling you to give an important message to the people He loves…and the message is not heeded? In fact, instead of responding to the message with repentant hearts…they take extra effort to destroy Jeremiah with their words. And these are religious people leading the charge!

It was true in Jesus’ day too. He was well received by people far from God because he presented a message that would draw and graft them into His promise. But those who did not think they needed to repent, the religious folks whose practices and rituals would “save” them…They more often than not…missed the boat.

We will see how this further plays out next week, but I want you to ask yourself this question:

On a scale of 1-10 how much do I trust the Potter with my life? (1 being no trust at all, 10 being complete trust) God is the Potter whether we approve of his craftsmanship or not, however we do have a role to play.

“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14