Tag Archives: Following Jesus

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Abraham’s example

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 28-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts about 28 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below.

In last week’s sermon, ‘Hard words’, from Matthew 10:24-39, we heard almost impossible words from Jesus regarding his expectations of how we should live our lives. In particular:

37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me;
anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me;
38 whoever does not take up their cross and follow me
is not worthy of me.

Despite these words, the take-home message from last week was (1) that God loves us deeply and with great attention to the detail of our lives, and (2) that God wants the whole of us and not just small pieces of us.

Genesis 22:1-18, our reading for today, illustrates what we spoke about last time. Abraham gets an unthinkable instruction from God:

“Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

I wonder what we would do if we got such an instruction from God. Honestly, I would say ‘no’. Just, ‘no’.

We must remember, though, that we know much more about God’s character today than Abraham did. God only began revealing himself to the world in Genesis 12, when he selected Abraham to be his ambassador and to bring God’s blessings to all nations. Abraham was just getting to know God and had little to go on 10 chapters later. But we have the rest of the entire First Testament, plus the Gospels and all the writings of the early church. We have a much greater grasp of who God is and what God would or would not demand of us.

Still, Abraham is committed and so obeys God’s command. He and his only son Isaac start the journey towards Isaac’s sacrifice. Isaac may be a child, but he’s not stupid. He notices that everything for the sacrifice is there except the lamb. Where is the lamb? he asks his father. And Abraham answers, God will provide.

They continue on to the site God had selected. Abraham establishes the altar, lays his son on the wood, and gets ready to kill him with a knife before burning his body as a sacrifice to God. In that final moment, God stops him and affirms his faith. And provides a ram (not just a lamb) to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. And God renews his original promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 in Genesis 22:15-18.

It is in many ways an unthinkable, dreadful story!

The only real comparison is Jesus’ death on the cross – also a sacrifice on our behalf. But there are major differences between Jesus’ sacrifice and Isaac’s. Jesus was a full and equal partner with God the Father and God the Spirit in working out the plan for his sacrifice of himself on the cross. Jesus went in knowing what he was doing and fully agreeing to it. And he knew the outcome it would produce. Isaac, on the other hand, was kept in the dark about all of this.

I said to my congregation in the sermon that if they believe God is instructing them sacrifice a member of their family, they should come and talk with me first. Seriously! This narrative in Genesis 22 is not the norm.

But it does illustrate the kind of whole-hearted and willing-to-go-to-the-very-end commitment that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 10 last week. Sometimes, God does call us to do something unimaginable, extraordinary, risky, and extravagant. And often, that is precisely what we should do. God does want our whole selves – every piece of us.

Featured image from the 4th Sorrowful Mystery Chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. (https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/why-did-god-ask-abraham-to-sacrifice-isaac/)

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Hard words

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 28-minute message. Or watch the video here on Facebook (the message starts about 25 minutes into the recording). Or read the text summary below. (This message was preached on 25 June 2023.)

The context of today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 10:24-39) is persecution – Jesus’ warning to his disciples that they will be persecuted (vv 16 & 22):

I am sending you out like sheep among the wolves… You will be hated by everyone because of me…

And so we read this passage section by section and listen to what God is saying to us through the Word:

24 The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

We are described as Jesus’ servants or slaves and as Jesus’ students. What happens to him will happen to us. How he is treated, so shall we be treated. If he is called Beelzebul (the devil), so shall we. But there is also hope in these lines: hope that we can become like our teacher and master; and hope that we upgrade from students and servants to members of his household.

26 So do not be afraid of them,
for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed,
or hidden that will not be made known.
27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight;
what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

Who is it that we need not be afraid of? Surely not the people in the previous verses? No, I think most likely is it the ‘they’ referred to in verse 19, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.”

These verses present 4 contrasts between what happens in private (concealed, hidden, in the dark, in the ear) and what is done publicly (disclosed, made known, in the daylight, from the rooftops). We are encouraged to be bold!

28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Here we get the second reassurance to not be afraid. ‘Those who kill the body’ refers to those people who persecute – many Christians in the early church were persecuted and killed. But instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy the soul. I’ve often thought that meant the devil, but commentators argue that the devil does not have the power to destroy souls – only God has that power. So, if we are going to be afraid of anyone, we should be afraid of (or rather, we should fear) God.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care (or will or knowledge).
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Verse 29 contrasts the cheapness of sparrows with God’s concern for their death. The last word of verse 29 has multiple meanings, but ‘care’ seems most appropriate in context – God cares about even the cheap little sparrows. He directs his attention towards even them. He does not, however, save them from dying – they do die. But he is present with and caring for them, as they die.

Verse 30 emphasises God’s interest in the smallest details of our lives, even the number of hairs on our head. It is trivial, but God knows such details. Again, he does not stop our hair from falling out! But he does keep count.

Verse 31 gives us the third “don’t be afraid”. Because sparrows – small as they are – are loved by God. How much more are we then loved by God.

32 Whoever acknowledges me before others,
I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

33 But whoever disowns me before others,
I will disown before my Father in heaven.

These two verses provide a parallel response from us to Christ: if we acknowledge him, he’ll acknowledge us. If we disown him, he’ll disown us. These are blunt words, but honest and direct.

34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household”. (Micah 7:6)

Jesus preaches love consistently, but then we get these verses about the violence within families. In truth, faith can fracture families. Nations go to war over religion. And so do families.

37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me;
anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me;
38 whoever does not take up their cross and follow me
is not worthy of me.

This triptych of “is not worthy of me” is among the most chilling words uttered by Jesus. They seem so out of character. A punch in the belly. His emphasis is on his requirement for our total allegiance.

39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

We must lose ourselves in Christ. That is the path to finding ourselves.

So, as we we wrap this difficult passage, there are two take-home messages:

First, God knows and loves us – we are members of his household, valued, known and cared for.

Second, God expects everything of us – he wants our utter commitment.

Featured image from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/truth-and-tone-go-hand-in-hand/

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Follow me

Click here to listen to the audio recording of this 15-minute message (low data, better quality sound, no picture) or watch the video of the sermon on Facebook (starts at about 30 minutes into the recording).

Jesus begins his ministry by calling people to follow him. In John 1:43-51 Jesus calls Philip – “follow me”. Philip goes to call his friend Nathanael to meet Jesus, becoming one of the first evangelists. As Nathanael arrives, Jesus says some things about him, showing that he knows Nathanael, before they had even met. And then Jesus reveals that he saw Nathanael sitting under a tree even before Philip had called him.

In this message, I share my own experience of being called by Jesus to follow him. It is not definitive, but provides just one experience of being called and (eventually) responding to God’s call.

Jesus remains the same today – he knows us and sees us. He knows where we are in life and in our relationship with him, and he sees where we are and what we are doing. And it with this knowledge of us, that Jesus calls us to follow him.

I thus urge you also to respond to the call of Jesus – to follow him. Put in the effort to build a relationship with Jesus – talk with him, read the Bible, come to church, talk with Christian friends, think about Jesus. He is ready and waiting for you. He is calling you to follow him. You just need to reach back.

Featured image from https://www.followmeretreat.org/