Sermon 23rd September 2007
Today’s sermon, from our Vicar, Cameron Barker, is based on the reading from 1 John 5:6-13
How can I be sure? In a world that's constantly changing. How can I be sure where I stand with you?' That's not a question posed by one of the world's great philosophers or theologians, by the way. It was actually asked by Dusty Springfield in a song in 1970 (and then by David Cassidy in 1972). But it’s a good question: it's the exact question that we're asking God this morning: 'How can I be sure? In a world that's constantly changing. How can I be sure where I stand with you?’
Now I think God wants to give us 3 reasons why we can be sure of where we stand with him. But before we look at those 3 reasons, I want to say 3 other things in advance. Then we can be clear of exactly what we're talking about.
Firstly, we need to be clear what we mean when we talk about being sure of our faith. Being sure of our faith is not the same as knowing all the answers. Of course Christians can, should, and must grow in understanding our faith. Hopefully that is part of what we do week by week. When we gather here on Sundays, it's not just to worship God. It's also to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and our faith. That is very much at the heart of our current series. As we look at these fundamentals of the Christian faith, so we should be growing in our understanding of what we believe and why. And there are many other opportunities on offer to grow in our faith and understanding too – like in the small groups that meet around the parish.
But never in this life are we going to end up with all the answers. We can attend church every Sunday; we can study the Bible and pray every day; we can meet with others to do those things together every week. But there will always be things that confuse us. There will always be questions and probably even doubts in our mind. But that doesn't mean that we can't be sure of our faith! There are things we can be sure of. We can be sure of these facts that we heard in our reading: God loves us; he gave his Son for us; and he's totally committed to us. And knowing those things helps us cope with the uncertainties, with the doubts and the difficulties. The way I think of it is this: “what I know helps me to live with what I don't know.”.
The second preliminary thing I want to say is this: we can only ever be sure of our faith if we've already made the first step of faith. We can only be sure of our faith if we have already turned to God. We first have to admit to God that we need him to put us right with him. We need to ask him to give us the gift of his Holy Spirit so we can live with him and for him. Only if we've done those things can we begin to be confident in our faith. We’ve looked at how to do that already in this series, and we'll revisit it again later. And we will have a chance to make a public declaration of faith at the end of our series. But, in the meantime, if you feel you still need to take that first step yourself, have a word with me or John afterwards.
The third preliminary thing to say really introduces the 3 main points I believe God wants us to hear today. And it's this: ultimately our faith doesn't depend on us; it depends on God. The Christian faith is all about a relationship. It's about a relationship between us and God. But it isn't a relationship of equals. That reminds me of the story of the ant and the elephant. While walking through the jungle, they came across a narrow rope bridge – which they decided to run across together. When they got to the other side, the ant turned to the elephant and said: 'Boy, didn't we make that bridge shake'!
In our relationship with God, he is very much the senior partner. God is the stronger one, by far. He's the one who can and will keep us going. If our faith relied on us, we'd get nowhere, slowly. But we can be sure of our faith by being sure of God's faithfulness. If he's taken the trouble to make us his children through the death of his son, we can be sure that he can and will keep us as his children.
So what are the 3 things God wants to say to us, to help us be sure of our faith in him? I believe he wants to say to us that we can be sure of our faith because of what he has said. We can be sure of our faith because of what he has done. And we can be sure of our faith because of what he is doing.
So, let's take them in turn. We can be sure of our faith because of what God has said. Most of us are emotional yo-yo's – feeling up 1 minute, down the next. Our feelings can play terrible tricks on us, and can be more changeable than the weather. Sometimes we might feel good about being Christians; the next we ask whether it's all worth it. So if we base our faith on how we feel, we won't get very far. No, we need something that's outside us, beyond us, to hold onto. And God has given us just that in the Bible.
Later in this series we're going to look in more detail at why we read the Bible. But here's a taster of why. From the beginning to the end of the Bible, God never stops making promises. In it he never stops reassuring us of his love and commitment to us. And we can rely on those promises. We can rely on them when we feel good; and we can especially rely on them when we feel bad. Let me give you just 1 example. Suppose God feels far away: you feel maybe as if he's left you, deserted you even. Well, read Revelation 3:20, where Jesus says, 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me'. In other words, if we have asked Christ into our lives there's no doubt about how he's replied to the invitation. However we may feel, if we have asked him in, he is in – and he is in to stay. So we can be sure of our faith because God tells us that we can be.
Secondly we can be sure of our faith because of what God has done. When Jesus was on the cross, just before he died, he cried out: 'It is finished.' He wasn't just saying his life was over, he meant much more than that. Time and again in the NT the writers say Jesus died 'once and for all'. In other words, Jesus death on that one day in that one place has significance for all people and for all time. It wasn't an accident: rather God was doing something – finishing something – of enormous significance through it.
He was making it possible for the sins of the whole world to be forgiven; and for each of us to know him, through the death of his Son. We can have a faith, because Jesus died. We can be sure of our faith because God gave his Son to die on the cross for us. That's the point John made in our rather complicated reading. He says Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion are 2 witnesses to the fact that God was doing something unique in Jesus. The third witness is the Spirit. And what all three witness to, says John, is this: God has given us eternal life, and that life is in his Son.
And finally we can be sure of our faith because of what God is doing. There’s a bumper sticker which say, 'Please be patient, God hasn't finished with me yet'. We may not be into bumper stickers, but this one reminds us of something important: God is still at work on us today. He doesn't treat us like clockwork toys: he doesn’t wind us up when we first become Christians, and then leave us to unwind by ourselves. Quite the opposite: as Christians we are not on a downward curve, but an upwards one, because God goes on working on us and in us. Some of what he does will only be evident from the inside; but some will be seen from outside too.
From the inside, as time passes you should have an increasing conviction about the truth of the Christian faith. You should have an increasing assurance of the fact that you are God's child. You should experience a growing love – for God, and for other people. You may at times have a sense that God is specially close to you, or that he's even actually speaking to you very specifically. These internal changes, which only you may be aware of, can and should also help you to be sure of your faith.
But things should be happening externally too. One of the most exciting things about the work I do is seeing how God takes people and changes their lives. I could tell you any number of stories about how God has made people more like Jesus. Yes, there may be times when we doubt that God has done anything with us, when we doubt just about everything about our faith. It's at times like that when we must distrust our feelings, and hear what other people say to us – because they often know us better than we know ourselves. We need to hear them say to us: 'look, you are different, you have changed, it's not a dream, it is real'
So, we can be sure about our faith, because of what God says in his Word; we can be sure of our faith because of what God has done in Jesus; and we can be sure of our faith because of what he is doing in our lives. Let's pray ...
How can I be sure? In a world that's constantly changing. How can I be sure where I stand with you?' That's not a question posed by one of the world's great philosophers or theologians, by the way. It was actually asked by Dusty Springfield in a song in 1970 (and then by David Cassidy in 1972). But it’s a good question: it's the exact question that we're asking God this morning: 'How can I be sure? In a world that's constantly changing. How can I be sure where I stand with you?’
Now I think God wants to give us 3 reasons why we can be sure of where we stand with him. But before we look at those 3 reasons, I want to say 3 other things in advance. Then we can be clear of exactly what we're talking about.
Firstly, we need to be clear what we mean when we talk about being sure of our faith. Being sure of our faith is not the same as knowing all the answers. Of course Christians can, should, and must grow in understanding our faith. Hopefully that is part of what we do week by week. When we gather here on Sundays, it's not just to worship God. It's also to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and our faith. That is very much at the heart of our current series. As we look at these fundamentals of the Christian faith, so we should be growing in our understanding of what we believe and why. And there are many other opportunities on offer to grow in our faith and understanding too – like in the small groups that meet around the parish.
But never in this life are we going to end up with all the answers. We can attend church every Sunday; we can study the Bible and pray every day; we can meet with others to do those things together every week. But there will always be things that confuse us. There will always be questions and probably even doubts in our mind. But that doesn't mean that we can't be sure of our faith! There are things we can be sure of. We can be sure of these facts that we heard in our reading: God loves us; he gave his Son for us; and he's totally committed to us. And knowing those things helps us cope with the uncertainties, with the doubts and the difficulties. The way I think of it is this: “what I know helps me to live with what I don't know.”.
The second preliminary thing I want to say is this: we can only ever be sure of our faith if we've already made the first step of faith. We can only be sure of our faith if we have already turned to God. We first have to admit to God that we need him to put us right with him. We need to ask him to give us the gift of his Holy Spirit so we can live with him and for him. Only if we've done those things can we begin to be confident in our faith. We’ve looked at how to do that already in this series, and we'll revisit it again later. And we will have a chance to make a public declaration of faith at the end of our series. But, in the meantime, if you feel you still need to take that first step yourself, have a word with me or John afterwards.
The third preliminary thing to say really introduces the 3 main points I believe God wants us to hear today. And it's this: ultimately our faith doesn't depend on us; it depends on God. The Christian faith is all about a relationship. It's about a relationship between us and God. But it isn't a relationship of equals. That reminds me of the story of the ant and the elephant. While walking through the jungle, they came across a narrow rope bridge – which they decided to run across together. When they got to the other side, the ant turned to the elephant and said: 'Boy, didn't we make that bridge shake'!
In our relationship with God, he is very much the senior partner. God is the stronger one, by far. He's the one who can and will keep us going. If our faith relied on us, we'd get nowhere, slowly. But we can be sure of our faith by being sure of God's faithfulness. If he's taken the trouble to make us his children through the death of his son, we can be sure that he can and will keep us as his children.
So what are the 3 things God wants to say to us, to help us be sure of our faith in him? I believe he wants to say to us that we can be sure of our faith because of what he has said. We can be sure of our faith because of what he has done. And we can be sure of our faith because of what he is doing.
So, let's take them in turn. We can be sure of our faith because of what God has said. Most of us are emotional yo-yo's – feeling up 1 minute, down the next. Our feelings can play terrible tricks on us, and can be more changeable than the weather. Sometimes we might feel good about being Christians; the next we ask whether it's all worth it. So if we base our faith on how we feel, we won't get very far. No, we need something that's outside us, beyond us, to hold onto. And God has given us just that in the Bible.
Later in this series we're going to look in more detail at why we read the Bible. But here's a taster of why. From the beginning to the end of the Bible, God never stops making promises. In it he never stops reassuring us of his love and commitment to us. And we can rely on those promises. We can rely on them when we feel good; and we can especially rely on them when we feel bad. Let me give you just 1 example. Suppose God feels far away: you feel maybe as if he's left you, deserted you even. Well, read Revelation 3:20, where Jesus says, 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me'. In other words, if we have asked Christ into our lives there's no doubt about how he's replied to the invitation. However we may feel, if we have asked him in, he is in – and he is in to stay. So we can be sure of our faith because God tells us that we can be.
Secondly we can be sure of our faith because of what God has done. When Jesus was on the cross, just before he died, he cried out: 'It is finished.' He wasn't just saying his life was over, he meant much more than that. Time and again in the NT the writers say Jesus died 'once and for all'. In other words, Jesus death on that one day in that one place has significance for all people and for all time. It wasn't an accident: rather God was doing something – finishing something – of enormous significance through it.
He was making it possible for the sins of the whole world to be forgiven; and for each of us to know him, through the death of his Son. We can have a faith, because Jesus died. We can be sure of our faith because God gave his Son to die on the cross for us. That's the point John made in our rather complicated reading. He says Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion are 2 witnesses to the fact that God was doing something unique in Jesus. The third witness is the Spirit. And what all three witness to, says John, is this: God has given us eternal life, and that life is in his Son.
And finally we can be sure of our faith because of what God is doing. There’s a bumper sticker which say, 'Please be patient, God hasn't finished with me yet'. We may not be into bumper stickers, but this one reminds us of something important: God is still at work on us today. He doesn't treat us like clockwork toys: he doesn’t wind us up when we first become Christians, and then leave us to unwind by ourselves. Quite the opposite: as Christians we are not on a downward curve, but an upwards one, because God goes on working on us and in us. Some of what he does will only be evident from the inside; but some will be seen from outside too.
From the inside, as time passes you should have an increasing conviction about the truth of the Christian faith. You should have an increasing assurance of the fact that you are God's child. You should experience a growing love – for God, and for other people. You may at times have a sense that God is specially close to you, or that he's even actually speaking to you very specifically. These internal changes, which only you may be aware of, can and should also help you to be sure of your faith.
But things should be happening externally too. One of the most exciting things about the work I do is seeing how God takes people and changes their lives. I could tell you any number of stories about how God has made people more like Jesus. Yes, there may be times when we doubt that God has done anything with us, when we doubt just about everything about our faith. It's at times like that when we must distrust our feelings, and hear what other people say to us – because they often know us better than we know ourselves. We need to hear them say to us: 'look, you are different, you have changed, it's not a dream, it is real'
So, we can be sure about our faith, because of what God says in his Word; we can be sure of our faith because of what God has done in Jesus; and we can be sure of our faith because of what he is doing in our lives. Let's pray ...
posted by Parish Administrator at 10:21 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home