The Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14)

(Preached on 14 February 2010 - Valentine's & Chinese New Year Day)

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How do you know that you will be in heaven?

Some of us will say, “Of course, I’ll get in”. But how do you know?

Others might be more humble. “No one really knows for sure.” But to say this is to imply that the bible is unclear - Unclear on how we are saved and unclear on who will be saved.

How do you know that you will be in heaven?

To help us answer this question, Jesus tells us not one but three parables, beginning from the previous chapter, at verse 28.

The first parable tells us of two sons with two different reactions. Their father tells both to go work in his vineyard. One son says, “I will not!” but changes his mind. And the other answers, “Yes, sir!” but doesn’t turn up for work. The lesson there is repentance. Repentance – A change of mind that leads to a changed life. The son who says no to his Father, yet later repents, is the son who does the will of his father.

The second is the parable of the tenants and the vineyard. Here the lesson is rejection. The farmers reject the owner by killing his servants and even killing the owner’s son. They want the land; they want the farm and fruits of the farm all for themselves. In the same way, it is very possible for us to earnestly want to be in Heaven, to sincerely desire the blessings of Heaven and yet at the same time wholeheartedly reject the King of Heaven. The tenants want the land; the tenants reject the landowner.

Which brings us to our third parable – the parable of the wedding banquet. Verse 1 reads “Jesus spoke to them” and already we come to the important question of “Who is Jesus speaking to?”

The answer is found a couple of verses earlier in verse 45. We read, “When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables they knew he was talking about them.”

Jesus is speaking to those who are religious; to those who are confident of their religion. How do you know that you will be in Heaven? What makes you so sure?

Yet what we will find in this third parable is that Jesus is speaking to all of us here today – whether you consider yourselves religious, irreligious or even ignorant of religion. Because the big question at the when considering Heaven is the King of Heaven – not who we are, but who God is. Not how we will get in, but why God graciously calls us into his presence.

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Verse 2ff:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a King who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.”

This is not an invitation. It isn’t. The king sends servants to those who have been invited. Meaning, they already know there is going to be a celebration. Yet they refuse to come. What does the king do?

(Verse 4) He sends more servants to tell them about the wedding banquet. He says to tell them it is all ready and it is all good! My oxen and cattle have been slaughtered – meaning there is plenty for everyone. This is the good stuff. Not Tesco Value but Tesco Finest. Come! Everything is ready!

Verse 5: “But they paid no attention and went off.” What follows is a range of different responses.

One went off to his field, the other to his business. “Can’t you see I’m busy? I’ve got work to do.” The emphasis here is not just that they cannot spare the time; there is too much work to get done; there are bills to be paid. Rather Jesus makes it a point to say that one goes to his (literally his own) field and the other to his business or enterprise – the emphasis being that these men are owners.

The mention of the field or farm, ought to remind us of the second parable, where the farmers do everything they can because they want to own the land. But here, this man owns his farm, his land; his business.

These men are not responding in ignorance, they respond with idolatry. They see, they compare, but they refuse.

They see what the king offers, but when compared with what they already have and own, it does not measure up. “You have slaughtered cows? I will have you know I can afford my own steak dinner, bought with my own hard-earned money, thank you but no thank you.”

CS Lewis, a Christian author and thinker writes:

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward … in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us… We are far too easily pleased.”

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If the first reaction is weak desire, then the second is strong contempt.

Verse 6: “The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.”

This just sounds crazy to me. They killed them?

If you get an invitation and you don’t want to go – you don’t go. You might make excuses or ignore the invitation but who goes to this extreme?

Arresting the servants? Mistreating them? The word “mistreat” used here means to publicly humiliate and even torture a person.

The question is “why”? What drove the people to such extreme violence?

The answer is the message they carried. The message from the king saying: Come! Everything is ready and there is nothing but the best for the celebration.

Nothing but the best for the wedding of my son!

That was the message from the king. But now the villagers want to send their own message to the king. A message that said: We don’t want to be a part of the celebration, because we do not want you to be our King, and we do not want your son to as your heir.

Here is radical rebellion and wickedness and it is in response to radical grace. The message that this was to be a day of celebration and rejoicing was also the signal that it was the perfect opportunity to rebel.

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So today of all days is the perfect day – a perfect day for rejoicing or rejection.

Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to declare your affections to the one you love most. It can also be the perfect day to be hurt by the one you love most.

Chinese New Year can be time of celebration and thanksgiving –Family members gathering from afar to gather over food for that wonderful traditional of the annual reunion dinner. Yet how many disagreements happen right at the dinner table – how many arguments, misunderstandings will take place tonight in our homes.

The perfect opportunity for one can just as easily lead to the other – it is the best occasion for celebration and joy; it could be a great opportunity to inflict maximum damage and hurt.

How? Through rejection.

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Verse 7: “The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed the city and murderers in the fire.”

This sounds harsh. Destroying an entire city? Sending in the army?

Here we need to consider two things:

First, know who you are dealing with. Know who you are dealing with.

The king represents God in awesome power and justice. If defying the head of an earthly kingdom is fearful, imagine what it means to defy the King of all Kings and the Lord of the universe.

Know who you are dealing with. Our God is an awesome God – both in creation and in judgement; both in goodness and in holiness.

But secondly, know who this God is dealing with. Who is this parable about?

On one level, we have seen it’s about the religious leaders. They are overconfident in their heritage, in their positions of leadership, in their history. Jesus says to them – they have rejected God.

Yet the amazing thing is that as you go back and look at these three parable, the charge that Jesus makes towards the Pharisees and religious leaders is not that they have rejected God as much as they have rejected him as the Son of God.

You see, rejection is at the heart of what the bible describes as sin.

We think sin is breaking rules, doing bad things or being naughty. Yet how exactly have the people in this parable sinned against the king? By rebelling against his rule and by rejecting his authority and goodness. Sin is saying I don’t want a king over my life. Sin is saying I want to be my own king.

And to understand sin rightly as rebellion is then to understand what judgement over sin entails. It is punishment for rebellion. That is why the king sends in the troops. It is what a monarch does when his authority is challenged. The king is quelling the rebellion.

This means the warning that Jesus gives is not just to the religious authorities but also to us. When we reject God’s word; when we reject God’s servants who present us with the claims and promises of God’s word; and indeed when we reject God’s son who is at the centre of God’s word – we stand under judgement of the king.

The parable reveals how we reject Jesus again and again in our lives. Through idolatry: choosing to live our own lives instead of in submission to him. Through outright rebellion: in defiance against his rightful position as Lord over this earth and over our lives. Through religion: By foolishly trusting in our own observance of rules rather than his fulfillment of the will of his Father.

Yet deeper still, the parable is about Jesus in a much more revealing way. It points to us who he is and what he came to do.

Jesus is the true son and heir of God’s kingdom, yet is sent as God’s true servant. He comes to bear the message of God’s promises and blessings, but moreover he enters creation to bear the punishment of our sins and rebellion.

He is the one who will be arrested, humiliated publicly, tortured, and killed on the cross. That happens in just a few chapters on in Matthew’s gospel.

And the parable will go on to show that beyond redefining sin: as the rejection not just of God but Jesus as the Son of God; he will also go on to redefine righteousness.

Not as something we do in order to earn our way to God, but righteousness as something we can only receive from God, and only through Christ.

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The robe of righteousness

Verse 8

“Then (the king) said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

Go to the street corners and invite anyone you find.”

Nothing can diminish God’s passion for his glory – not even our sin. In fact, the gospel shows how God uses our sin for his glory and our joy.

The rejection of the accepted has now resulted in the acceptance of the rejected. The hall is now filled with people both good and bad. It’s not based on what they have done or who they are! They are nobodies. They weren’t even on the original guest list.

You could say that this parable gives us a glimpse into what heaven will be like. But I think it’s truer to say that Jesus is showing us what the church on earth should be like. Look with me to verse 10”

The servants going into the streets corners –literally the road exits – meaning the servants went right to the end, as far as the roads would take them – searching everywhere for everyone they could find.

More importantly, they did this in order to gather them together. That’s talking about the church. The word “church” simply means – gathering. Anytime you read in the bible the words “assembly”, “synagogue” or “church” – it means the one and same thing. It means gathering.

The word of God – the gospel – goes out to furthest ends of the world, gathering everyone and anyone into God’s presence to rejoice in God’s Son.

“Anyone” verse 9. “All the people”, “Both good and bad” - verse 10. “Guests” of the king – verse 11.

These are the words of Jesus of the church – and they are words designed to shock! He says to the religious leaders “… tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (21:31)

But at the same time: These are words meant to encourage.

I wonder if you can remember the first time in a church, or a bible study or a gathering of Christians. For some of us that day is today. Everyone is singing but you don’t know the songs. Everyone is reading the bible which you are holding for the very first time.

Can I ask you to remember that experience? How new, and how strange and how awkward you felt because that’s the experience of these guests.

There’s so much food. This is the palace of the king. What am I doing here? I’m nobody.

But then they look around and they’re nobodies too! What’s he doing here! Or, that guys doesn’t deserve to be in here either!

And that’s the same way you should think of the church. None of us deserve to be here.

The only requirement for you to be in a church is this: you must be undeserving. You cannot say, because I’m the speaker, because I played music, my parents have been coming for decades, I gave so much money, I cooked so much food today – therefore I deserve… no, none of us deserve to be here… except for the gracious invitation of the king. We have done nothing.

He calls us. He prepares the feast. The church is the product of God’s word and God’s generosity… and not the other way around. The church comes out of the gospel, the gospel does not come out of the church. The word of God produces the people of God.

That’s why it is so important to have it in the center of all that we do. The best way I can welcome you today is to pass you the invitation from the King himself. To call you into his presence. To show you his generosity.

God’s generosity which defines who we are - not what we’ve done, but all that he has done – but also a generosity that determines where we will be in his kingdom… let’s read on.

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Verse 11ff

“But when the king came in to see the guests,
(God looks around his gathering… he walks among us)
he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend, he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’
The man was speechless. (Meaning he had no excuse)

Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

What are these wedding clothes? And why is this man punished so severely?

In Ezekiel chapter 16, God speaks to his people in Jerusalem as a husband who woos his bride, dressing her in fine clothes.

Verse 10: “I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and … fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.”

He says, “… I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made a vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declared the LORD God…”

Granted that in Ezekiel, God speaks to his wedding bride, and here the king addresses the wedding guest. But in both cases, what makes the bride and the guest suitable; acceptable is not their inner worth, but their outer righteousness.

In Romans 13, Christians are called to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and not to think how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The message there is that our righteousness is external – it clothes us. On the inside we are unworthy sinners, but on the outside we are covered by the beauty and worthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the cross Jesus is stained with our sin, stricken with our pain, punished for our condemnation. But from the cross, we receive his purity, his righteousness and his life.

Without Christ, the bible says our righteous acts are like filthy rags before God. We are without excuse and face the anger of God.

But in Christ, we are loved by God as guests at the banquet, as citizens of the kingdom and as sons and daughters in God’s family.

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Many are called, but...

The parable ends with the sobering words, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” In quite a few English translations, verse 14 reads “For many are called…”

That’s because every time you see the word “invite” or “tell” in this parable, the word there is actually “call”. God calls us. Again and again, sending his servants, sending his word, and in the end - sending his own Son – to call us into his kingdom.

He calls the good and the bad, both the wicked and the righteous. Any and every, and many are called, but the truth of verse 14 is … few are chosen.

To dwell on being called is to dwell on our privilege and our position – that was what happened to the Pharisees. They thought they were called because they deserved to be called.

But to reflect on God’s choice .. well, that reminds us of just what kind of God we are dealing with. He is an awesome God in justice and holiness. He is a generous God, providing grace to sinners, clothing them with righteousness even at the cost of the death of his son.

We began with the question: How do you know that you will be in Heaven?

But the real answer Jesus gives is not a future promise (will you be in Heaven?), but a present reality (are you in Heaven?). To be in Christ, is to be seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (according to Ephesians 2:6).

For the king says banquet is ready, and all the preparations are finished! The Son of God even now clothes us in his righteousness that we might enter into the very presence of the Almighty who we call our King, our God and our Father.

Every meal we have, not least the great feast we will enjoy today, points forward to the certainty of the fulfillment and joy that waits for us at the end of the age, but also backwards – to a simple meal of bread and wine symbolizing Jesus’ body and blood sacrificed on the cross.

The King says “Come!” For everything that needs to be done has been done in Christ. All we have to do – all we can do – is simply respond and rejoice in the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Son of God in his glory!

The Wise Guys (Matthew 2:1-12)

Road Trip

Have you ever been on a road trip? Do you know what a road trip is?

A bunch of guys crammed into a car and just driving off into the unknown.

Every once in a while that's what we'll do. J, D, WM, P - we just have this instinctive drive to head off into the sunset. We don't know where we're going, but we know we need to get there fast!

Girls - they don't get this. For them, a trip is all about the destination, accommodation - a checklist of things to do, sights to see. Planning every detail so that everything stays on schedule, on budget.

But for guys, we just head out. No idea where we're going - Just Go! Go! Go! And maybe an hour later someone says, Go where? Where are we headed dude? No idea!

No map - 'cos we don't need them. We never get lost - we 're just in-between destinations.

Now today's passage is really for the guys. I'll try to explain as best as I can to the girls, slowly so that you can understand. But what we have here are a bunch of guys who have headed off into the wilderness on a Road trip. Woohooo!

They're called the Magi. The English Standard Version calls them wise men. But I like to call them, the "Wise Guys".

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,
Magi (or Wise Guys) from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

3 things we need to note about the Magi. They were:

1. Outsiders
2. Outcasts
3. Out of their minds

Outsiders

Number 1: They were Outsiders. Meaning: they were from out of town. Now I know it says in the bible "they came from the East" - but sadly, this does not mean they were Chinese. (Where is the der wan born the King of Juice!). No, they were not Chinese.

Many scholars think they were from Persia, Babylon or Arabia, countries that were east of Jerusalem. Whichever it was, the point is, this was not a day trip. The Wise Guys didn't just hop on their camels for a weekend away in Milton Keynes. This was a journey that took at least a month. Weeks of travelling through mountains and deserts, following a star - a GPS (God's Providential Star) that only worked at night.

And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they would have looked strange to everyone else. Strange clothes, strange accent (Where is the wan borrn the KInG of the Jews), in a strange language. They didn't speak in Hebrew - we know this because of in verse 2 they ask for "King of the Jews".

In Jewish it is always "King of Israel" or Messiah or Christ. Only the outsiders, those who didn't know anything about the bible, only Gentiles referred to Jesus as "King of the Jews".

So that's the first point, the Wise Guys were strangers, foreigners, outsiders.

Outcasts

But more importantly - number 2: they were Outcasts. The Magi were not friends of the Jews.

Rather, the bible is full of examples of Magi being enemies of the people of God.

The exact same word, "Magi" is found in the Old Testament. And there, they are always the villains, the bad guys. Now you won't find the word Magi if you tried flipping through your bible. That is because, in books like Daniel and Exodus, the word "magician" is used.

You see, the Magi, or magicians were outcasts to the people of God because they practised sorcery and magic that was offensive to God. They were experts in sorcery, fortune-telling and astrology. Notice how they used astrology, the stars to determine the birth of the King.

Revelation 21:8 says that God reserves judgement on the cowardly, unbelieving, vile, murderers, sexually immoral (and) those who practice magic arts. This is a timely reminder a week away from Halloween.

The Magi were outcasts in Israel, abominations to the God of Israel. So, we need to ask ourselves, what are these guys doing here?

Out of their minds

The answer is: Out of their minds!

"Hey! Look at that cool star!"

"Awesome!"

"Where do you think it's going?"

"Dunno! but it's Awesome"

"Let's follow it"

"Awesome!! Road trip!"

So off they go, following this star by night until it leads them all the way to Jerusalem. Then suddenly, no more star. GPS gets switched off.

Now Wise Guys have to do the most humiliating, the most degrading thing a man can ever do on a road trip.

They have to stop and they have to ask .... for directions!

What is even more amazing is this, and I love this about the Wise Guys, is who they ask the directions from:

They ask the present king where they can find his replacement.

Let's say tomorrow morning, you are at your desk at work, starting the week, booting up your computer to check your emails

and a bunch of strange smelly dudes turn up saying, "Hi, I heard you're gonna fired soon, so sorry about that, but could you tell me how we can find the guy who is going to take your job. We want to throw him a big surprise party" And you see that they've brought pizza, 6 packs of coke, and one of those huge balloon's which say "AWESOME".

Verse 3: When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.

Meaning: he was not happy!

Now who is this King Herod? We find out 3 things:

• He was concerned
• He was clever
• and he was crafty (meaning really sneaky)

In history, this was Herod the Great - Famous for huge construction projects. I mean, this guy rebuilt the temple of Jerusalem. Some even called it Herod's Temple.

But Herod the Great was also Herod the Greatly Feared! Nobody messed around with this guy. If he didn't get along with you, you were dead! He killed his brother-in-law, Aristobulus III at 18 years old because he thought he might be made king, he killed his wife Mariamne thinking she was cheating on him, he even killed his own sons.

Clever

But King Herod wasn't impulsive. He was concerned about this news yes, but he was also a clever guy. These Magi might have called him the King of the Jews, but Herod knows they are really talking about the Christ. This was the prophecy about the chosen King of Israel. God's chosen King.

Verse 4:

... He called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law,

he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

In short, Herod organised a conference. That's what he did - New Word Alive, SEEC. He got together all his wise men. Not just the priests - but the chief priests. Not just lawyers - but the teachers of the law.

Everyone with a degree, masters and PhD - Herod assembled them in one place to answer one question. Where is the Christ supposed to be born. None of that hocus-pocus, magic-trickery. This was a meeting of the minds.

This was a search through the Scriptures. And verse 5 tells us, they found the answer they were looking for:

"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied.

But wait there's more. You ever meet the kind of guy who's not happy proving he is the smartest person in the room - he's also keen to show why he is the smartest guy in the room?

That's verse 6:

"For this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah
Are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

They end the conference with a bang! Stuart Townend is singing "In Bethlehem alone", "Oh to see the Bethlehem" - everyone is saying how this is the best conference ever. Thank you everyone for making it such a success.

There's a passage in John chapter 5 when Jesus tells the crowd,

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Here are the intellectuals, the Cambridge students of the day, rejoicing in their ability to read God's word, to teach God's word. We are the real Wise Guys!

Jesus says, they are fools! They are dead in their sin. They think they have life.

But really they are too proud to come to him, the source of eternal life.

Is it possible that we can be so familiar with the bible, so familiar with church, with Christianity,
that we can point others to Jesus, but we ourselves are lost.

The bible says "Of course!"

This isn't a warning just for those intellectual types - PhDs and Profs. Not us, we're just ordinary folk.

Notice, how Matthew calls them "the people's chief priests, and the people's teachers of the law". Or verse 3 - Herod responded in fear. All Jerusalem responded in fear.

This is the pride of the whole city. We have got the true king. We have got the right kind of bibles, the right kind of church, the right kind of teaching. It is pride by association.

Crafty!

Verse 7:
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

Now, Herod takes control. I'm the King here. I give the orders.

He calls them into his palace and he sends them to do his work.

Find out exactly where this child is.

And when you do, your first priority is to report back to me.

(And here's the bit that's really sneaky!) So that I too may go and worship him.

That's Herod for you. The guy knows how to talk the talk.

Concerned, Clever and very Crafty.

The unimpressive guys

But as for our Wise Guys, I think they would have been very confused. What's going on?

We came here to look for the King. This is the city of Kings, Jerusalem. It looks like the right place but everything feels wrong.

And I wonder how many of us set off on our own journeys looking for God only to be sidetracked. We start out with sincere motives, but it's not long before we get taken in by the impressive and the spectacular. You see it every year in Cambridge. Surrounded by great ambition, great achievement. Yet underneath it hides great pride and great insecurity. Always needing to prove you're number one. Having to justify your existence, To give the right answer. Here in Cambridge, everyone can be King. Everyone wants to be great.

Like the Magi, maybe some of us have to put greatness behind us before we start to get a glimpse of God.

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Magi are just stepping out of Jerusalem, they just left the palace, it's all behind them...and boom! Right in front of them. It's the star! They are back on track. GPS working again.

When they saw it,(verse 10) they were overjoyed! The ESV says this, "they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy!" There are high fives and giving each other chest bumps. One of them is doing the victory dance. They were overjoyed.

Immediately, I mean the very second they got over their excitement and the awesomeness of the event, they must have got right on their camels and chased that star. They're thinking, I'm not letting that star out of sight. No way, we're going to lose it this time. We have come this far, we are going to get there!

And the star goes on and on before them, leading them to Bethlehem, then into the city, through the streets until it comes right on top, right there like a spotlight, shining down... to where Jesus is. And nothing could have prepared them for what they saw next.

It wasn't a palace. No servants. Here they were in a small town. In front of a small house. And they see a kid, two year old at the most with his mommy. You have reached your destination. This is the King.

And they worshipped him. They fell faced down to the ground and honoured the True King of Israel.

This is madness! What are they doing?

I read this and I try to imagine what it must have looked like to Mary, Jesus' mother. Joseph's away, it's just me and Jesus tonight. Maybe I'll turn in early get a good night's sleep. Out of nowhere this entourage of foreigners come riding in on their camels stop right in front of our door.

And next thing I know, they're worshipping our baby. They open this huge chest and start presenting him with gold, incense and myrrh. This is just insane.

To so many people this just looks insane. Crazy. But what I'm hoping is some of you will look at this today and see this is AWESOME. This is wonderful. You look at this and say, I want to do this.

I want to be able to run to Jesus. I want the excitement of knowing he's there waiting for me. And when I see him, I want to fall on my knees saying Lord, take everything that I have and all that I am. I want to be that guy.

Jesus says in Matthew 8:11 onwards

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus is saying Heaven is going to be full of the wrong kinds of people. Outsiders, outcasts. Out-of-their minds - but because of their humility and faith - honoured - they will be honoured. You see this all throughout Jesus' ministry, he is constantly surrounded by the wrong kind of people. Sinners and tax-collectors.

You look at the Magi, these Wise Guys and so many things about them are just wrong.

• They have the wrong background
• They use the wrong terminology

And yet, they teach us so much that is right:

• They don't know a whole lot about God, but they seek him anyway
• They are not afraid to ask, to find out more, to admit they don't have all the answers
• They rejoice in God's greatness and not their own

We prefer to follow the King's of these world. They lead us to greatness.

But maybe we should consider following the Wise Guys, because they lead us to Christ.

Meeting God

Most of all, the Magi teach us what it means to truly meet God.

How do you know you have met God? That you have truly encountered the living God?

Today's passage says:

• You meet him in weakness
• You meet him in the joy of worship

Verse 6: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

Do you hear that? God says, the Christ will have humble beginnings. He will be born in Bethlehem.

That's like saying, "Anglia Ruskin, you are by no means least in the land of Cambridge and Oxford".

That's like saying the next Prime Minister is a graduate from Cambridge... Regional College.

It's Bethlehem. Not Jerusalem where you will find the Christ. In a house not a palace.

A 2-year old kid having his nappy changed by his mommy. Not King Herod the Great surrounded by the professors and priests.

For Christians, we meet God in the weakness of the cross. Dying not living. Insulted and not exalted. Humble and not proud. You see Jesus hanging on the cross, gasping for his last breath. And you say there is my King.

You meet God in weakness. You meet him at the cross.

But secondly, you meet God in worship.

You know what worshipping God means? It's giving to God all that he is worth. And the question you have to answer at the end of the day is, what is God worth to you?

The Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus says, is like a guy who finds a treasure in field, and then in his joy goes away and sells all he has! He doesn't go erm, I like this, or maybe this, or maybe this. He says, takes it all, please I just need to sell everything I have, so that I can have this true treasure.

Is God your true treasure. Is he worthy of your worship, your gold, your offering, your very lives.

Preparing for Judgement, Assured by Salvation (2 Peter 2)

2 Peter 2 is a hard passage. We studied the chapter this week at bible study and it is was hard. Not because we couldn't understand it, but precisely because we were confronted with words that were clearly serious, urgent and relevant.

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

(2 Peter 2:1-3)

Peter warns the church - here, the bible is warning us as Christians - there will be false teachers who will attempt to lead believers away from the gospel of Christ. It has always been so. Just as the Old Testament people of God were surrounded by false prophets, so the New Testament church will have its share of false teachers. Note the shift in role from prophet to teacher. The prophet was one who stood between man and God, speaking to man words from God. The teachers derived their authority from the written Word of God; the scriptures. But therein lies the greater temptation and danger, for the teacher would interpret the meaning and fulfilment of the words in scripture. It would be harder to discern wisdom from word, rhetoric from revelation, interpretation from illumination.

Also, we are not to think that the teacher has less significance than the prophet. In his first letter, Peter opens by reminding Christians of the more complete revelation we have in the gospel, compared even to the prophets of God. Indeed, he says they were not serving themselves, but us (1 Peter 1:12). And in his second letter, he now compares his own authority as a witness to Jesus to that of the prophets. Peter himself heard the voice of God on the mountain affirming the Sonship and approval of Jesus (2 Peter 1:17-18). Yet Peter's aim in writing the letter is to remind Christians of what has already been revealed in Christ as the fulfilment of scripture. In other words, he is teaching them. In verse 12, he writes, "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have."

The contrast between Peter and the false teachers is that of content. Peter goes to great pains to assure Christians of the truth of the gospel they have already been established in (1:12), writing mainly to refresh and remind them of this truth (1:13), making this his sole purpose in life and ministry - that the gospel be firmly rooted in the hearts and minds of believers long after his passing. On the other hand, the false teachers introduce false teaching that contradict the gospel (verse 1), exploiting their hearers with stories they have made up (verse 3).

What follows is one whole chapter describing the attributes and condemning the actions of these false teachers - an entire chapter. But why go to such lengths? Judgement, fire, condemnation, hell - we get it, Peter - you are serious about dealing with these problematic teachers. But you say you write to the church to remind us of the gospel, the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, where is it? How do we see the gospel in these words?

Many who preach from this passage (rightly) say that Peter is concerned that we are able to identify these false teachers. He describes them for us: they are boastful, driven by their sinful and sensual desires and despise authority (verse 10). They speak out of ignorance (verse 12). They are motivated by greed and lust (verse 14). Ultimately, their actions will result in judgement. Therefore, Peter's repeated reference to instances of judgement in the Old Testament serve as a warning that we do not follow in the footsteps of these false teachers.

Yet is Peter's main concern to warn believers of these false teachers and their impending judgement?

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

(2 Peter 2:4-9)

These verses are difficult not because they speak of judgement. They are difficult because Peter is reminding believers of their salvation in the midst of judgement.

He builds the momentum of his argument with a series of "if" clauses.

• If God did not spare angels
• If God did not spare the world in its wickedness by sending the flood (Genesis 6-8); but protected Noah
• If God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19)
• If God rescued Lot

However looking back at 1 Peter 3 which links the imprisoned spirits/angels with the "days of Noah" (1 Peter 3:20), we find that Peter is laying out two strands from biblical history, like this:

• IF God did not spare angels nor the ancient world
  BUT protected Noah
• IF God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah
  BUT rescued Lot

THEN...verse 9 tells us Peter's conclusion - the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and hold the unrighteous for judgement.

What is Peter's main concern in Chapter 2? It's not them but us. Not just their condemnation - the judgement awaiting the false prophets and false teachers; but the salvation that God is more than able to bring upon us as his people. The Lord knows how to rescue godly men. He rescues them - verse 9 says - from trials.

The temptation and persecution that results from the actions of these false teachers are part of the trials that God's people have always face, and Christians continue to face today. In the midst of our distress, in the face of temptation, perhaps even death - Peter's main concern is that we continue to trust in the God who saves, who has always saved, and who will save us on the last day. In short, we will face trials, and in these trials, we can depend in a God who is utterly dependable.

It is striking that Peter minces no words when speaking of judgement, condemnation nor hell; all the while emphasizing rescue, deliverance and salvation. Salvation has little meaning if we are not aware of what we are saved from. The gospel of the great announcement of Jesus bearing the just wrath of God towards sinful men upon himself on the cross, and through his violent death purchasing a people for himself - now no longer slaves to sin nor facing condemnation; but recipients of Christ's righteousness, regenerated by the indwelling of his Spirit, sanctified for his purposes and glory.

Christ makes the promise of salvation in the gospel certain. At the same time, the cross also makes the final judgement all the more just. Both are part of the same gospel. Trusting in the cross is our only way of rescue. Rejecting the Saviour is the only assured way to destruction (verses 20-22).

To those far from Christ, even the good news and certainty of the promises of God will smell of death. But to those in Christ, even trials and temptations in this world will remind us of the God who is ever able to work all things for his glory and for our good. Paul puts it like this:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:38-39)

Let nothing shake you from the knowledge that you are always, always, always in the love of your Saviour and God - Jesus knows how to save those who are his!

Facing forgiveness (Genesis 32)

Jacob is the man with a plan. He is on a journey home to meet Esau, the elder brother he hasn't seen for decades; the one he cheated of his birthright - twice; who threatened to kill him as soon as their father Isaac was dead - that Esau; who now has set out to meet Jacob with 400 men (verse 6).

It is not cunning nor bravery that drives Jacob's schemes this time round - but fear. Verse 7: he was "...in great fear and distress". "Save (or rather, spare) me," Jacob prays to God, "from the hand of my brother Esau".

Jacob is "facing" up to his past - Genesis 32 plays on the word "face" as it records each step Jacob takes in confronting his brother.

• Earlier on in verse 2: Jacob sends messengers ahead of him (literally: in front of his face) to Esau
• Now Jacob sends wave after wave of gifts, servants, herds and flocks ahead of himself (in front of his face) - verse 21
• He instructs each and every servant - should Esau inquire of them the source of these animals before them (before their faces) - verse 17
• They are to give the same reply - "They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us." (verse 18)

Jacob sends all this before him, but as for himself, he will right behind. Everything and anything except for him to "face" up to Esau.

• Verse 20: His intention is to "pacify" Esau with lavish offerings ahead of him.
• The expression in the original text has Jacob thinking to himself - "Perhaps I can cover his face with these gifts before my face, and when I see his face, he will lift my face."
• Covering one's face is a Hebrew idiom for appeasement; some translations have "propitiate". The picture is that of placating someone's anger, covering over a source of offence or wiping away guilt.

It is not just that Jacob is fearful of the prospect of death. His actions and thoughts reveal an unwillingness to meet with Esau "face to face". Each convoy serves as a buffer and Jacob is evading the inevitable. As each servant's has been instructed to reply - he is always one step behind, never coming forward.

Yet the tension that Genesis is building up to is not an encounter between two estranged family members, but the meeting of a man and his God. The chapter ends with Jacob wrestling with God at Peniel (which means "face of God"), where Jacob would declare "I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

God himself declares to Moses that "no one may see me and live" (Exodus 33:20) but the point here is not that Jacob realises how lucky he is not to have perished in meeting God. Remembering his petition in verse 12, he recognises that God has answered his prayer. "Spare me from Esau" was his request; and in verse 30 he exclaims "my life was spared!".

When he finally meets Esau in the next chapter, we see the evidence of the change in verse 3 - "He himself went on ahead (of his wives and children) and ... approached his brother." No longer afraid, Jacob is now assured. It is an assurance that comes not simply from facing our fears but in facing the God who offers forgiveness and reconciliation.

For Christians it is the promise bound up in the hope of the glorious return of Christ - "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads." - Rev 22:3-4. Jesus has removed our condemnation through his blood, covering our guilt with his righteousness, and thereby opens the way for us to come into the very presence and unshielded glory of God.

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

for he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?

Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to an idol

or swear by what is false.

He will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from God his Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

Selah

(Psalm 24:1-6)

What Child Is This?

Recorded after service at the Chinese Church on Sunday 13 December 2009.

Text taken from Matthew 1:18-23

Coming Home (Christmas Promo)

Had some fun recording my journey back from work today. The words are taken from John Chapter 1. Looking forward to working with the gang to produce the full videos this coming weekend.

Christmas Impossible (Luke 1:26-38)

For many the Christmas story is simply impossible. How can you believe in something as nonsensical as a virgin birth?

This isn’t just a problem today. It was a problem two thousand years ago. Look with me to verse 34.

“How will this be… since I am a virgin?”

And who is it who says this? It is Mary. The virgin herself knows it is impossible to get pregnant if she has not had any physical relations with a man.

Her doubt; her sceptical response is here recorded for us to read in the bible.

That is, the bible does not leave out the difficult bits. When people in the bible came into contact with the fantastic, even miraculous claims of God, they often reacted with fear, confusion and doubt.

In fact, when you read the gospels which record the life of Jesus, doubt is a major theme. It was often the ones closest to Jesus who were confused by what he did and who he was.

The question we need to answer today is: How does the bible deal with these problems?

This passage offers us three steps:

o The bible opens our eyes to the bigger picture

o To see a bigger problem

o So that we can have a better perspective

The bigger problem

You see, the problem isn’t just that Mary, a virgin, would give birth to a son. She would give birth to the Son – the Son of God.

In our day and age, it is no big deal for a woman to get pregnant without a father. Science has given us IVF – In Vitro Fertilisation.

But how do you give birth to the Son of God? Mary would give birth, in effect, to God.

And what does the angel tell us about this Son of God? In verse 31 he says he will have the name Jesus.

Jesus is a Greek name – a Greek translation of what was probably the Hebrew name, Joshua. But both of them – Jesus and Joshua – mean the same thing: God will save.

God will save his people through this man, Jesus.

All through this Son would come the Kingdom of God. He will be a King. Or using another bible word – the Christ.

This Son of God is Jesus Christ. Christ is not his last name. Not like Jackie Chan – whose initials are also J.C.). Christ means King.

This will be Jesus Christ – the Son of God who will save and the one who will rule as King.

We are stuck at the problem of the virgin birth. But the bible says there is a bigger purpose, a bigger picture and an even bigger promise beyond that. The virgin will give birth to Jesus Christ who will save us and who will rule as King.

Nothing is impossible with God

So what is the angel’s answer to this bigger problem? He gives Mary a bigger perspective.

Verse 37: “…Nothing is impossible with God.”

You and I: when we encounter a claim in the bible, our first instinct is to ask “How can this be?” “How is this possible?”

But questions like these reveal more about who we are than who God is. Here the bible challenges us to consider who we are dealing with.

We are man – finite creatures with limited abilities and hence, limited possibilities. But this is God our creator who has no limitations and unlimited possibilities. Otherwise he would not be God.

Now I know some of us are thinking, “What a cop-out answer! Nothing is impossible with God? That is just a statement – it does not give a satisfactory answer at all!”

But consider for a moment what is purpose of this answer? Is God saying, “I am God! You are not! Please stop asking me silly questions!”

Or is he rather saying, “I am God – know who I am – so that you can trust me.”

Do you notice what God through his angel has been doing all this while for Mary? He has been reassuring her.

“Greeting! You who are highly favoured. The Lord is with you.” (Verse 28)

Again in verse 30: “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.”

This isn’t an announcement; a declaration of God’s power. This is an assurance of God’s faithfulness – that he will do what he has promised. So you, Mary, can trust him.

What about us?

Well, what does this passage have to say to us today?

Two applications for two different groups here this evening.

The first group: you look at the world in terms of possibilities and impossibilities. You are searching for truth. You want evidence that supports that truth – evidence that will point you in the direction of truth.

The bible says: keep looking and keep investigating!

The bible is encouraging you to keep asking questions and keep using your mind to evaluate the evidence. Especially, the evidence in the bible.

But don’t just stop at the impossibility of the virgin birth. Consider the bigger claims, the even more impossible statements the bible makes.

It is impossible for a man to be born again; it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God. Yet Jesus has come precisely to make this happen.

The bible says no man can forgive sin – only God can. Yet Jesus dares to say he has the authority to do this.

Or consider the biggest impossible claim of all. Isn’t it impossible for a man to rise from the dead?

That is what a man named Thomas thought.

He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

Jesus appeared to him. “Put you finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

To which Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God.”

Not – “Now I know there is a God, that Jesus is Lord.”

But that Jesus is his God, Jesus is his Lord and Saviour.

A second group

But there is also a second group here today who are perhaps all too familiar with the Christmas story.

For you the Christian faith – Christianity – is all about Christmas.

Christmas is an end in itself. After all, it is the end of term and the end of the year.

The bible says to you: there is much, much more! Christmas is only the beginning.

In the comedy Talladega Nights, Will Ferrel plays race car driver Ricky Bobby. In it, Ricky Bobby constantly prays to Baby Jesus. Specifically he prays to 8 pounds 6 ounces Baby Jesus – wearing a golden fleece with chubby little fingers. He even prays that he will use his Baby Jesus powers to heal him of sickness and to help him win that next race.

Like Ricky Bobby, we would rather have Baby Jesus in the manger.

But the bible points to Christ on the cross.

Jesus didn’t become a baby to save us. He became a baby in order to become a man – so that he could die a man’s death – and be raised fully man and fully God.

It is very possible to be so familiar with the biblical account of Jesus’ birth that we think – “This is not for me. I know this, already. It’s for someone else - for those who are new to the Christmas story.”

Today we read of the angel of God approaching Mary and saying “You…”

These are wonderful words, friends. “You are highly favoured! The Lord is with you!”

You know, for Mary she had to wait for the promises to come true. The angel says, “He will be great…. He will reign.”

But for Christians who know the bigger picture of Jesus Christ on the cross, we can say, “He does reign, He does rule! For he has died for my sins on the cross.”

What is the true meaning of Christmas?

I would put it this way:
that God, for whom nothing is impossible,
makes it possible for us
to trust fully in his Son Jesus
as our Saviour and as our King.