Sermon 5th December 2010
Today our guest speaker, Martin Sweet, preaches based on the reading from Matthew 3:1-12
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Sermon
What kind of voice does the church have? Are we listened to and if not, why are we not listened to? Has the voice of the church been marginalised .. or is it, frankly, that what we have been saying has been insignificant or … not clear enough.
Or maybe we should ask what kind of voice ‘should’ the church have?
The ministry of John the Baptist was prophesied about in Isaiah 40
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
John’s ministry of preparing the way was prophesied and set to be a voice of comfort. A voice of warm compassion.
In Is 40:1 twice he is ‘told’ to be a voice of comfort and v2 he was told to “speak tenderly”.
Again in v2, it a voice of forgiveness “that her sin has been paid for”
I believe that the church has a role to play in modern society – none more significant than in the arena of education. I am sure we all long to see the church with a more unified and consistent voice. And this is especially the case when we consider the voice of the church in the arena of education.
And let me set out my argument very clearly straight away .. because I believe, above all, it must be a voice of support. How sad that one head teacher once told me that the only time they see Christian parents is when they come to complain about something they do not agree with.
We need a ‘tender’ voice, because a voice of comfort is always listened to; always acceptable. Indeed, it may be that it is the most powerful of voices. Surely Christ’s own ministry tells us that much.
So does John the Baptist comes with the voice of comfort? Er .. well. Not exactly!
The first words he speaks in Matt (in fact, in all the gospels) is telling the religious community they are a “brood of vipers!” and then insulted them by sarcastically asking them who were they listening to, when he asks “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
Try saying “you are a ‘brood of vipers’” in a kind voice .. doesn’t quite work does it!
Is it enough for the church merely to lob criticism at society – and if we do, can we blame anyone for not listening?
So John seems to have ‘two’ voices ..
• a voice of comfort
• a voice that demanded repentance
So what ‘voice’ does this generation (and their parents) need or expect the church to have?
Whatever ‘voice’ we decide upon .. I am certain the desired outcome is to ‘clear the way’. The way we ‘speak’ to society will determine how many boulders or stones we take out of the road. We need to make it easier for people to come to God .. not more difficult. I would suggest we make it more difficult when they don’t see us clearly and visibly live out our Christian faith
Matthew 3 gives us an idea of what John’s voice was.
But we start by grasping the fact that John’s was “A voice of one calling in the desert” – but there are not many people in the wilderness – funny sort of place for John to start. But John’s voice was a lone one .. one outside the city, and here I confess that I sometimes feel as though the Christian voice is outside the ‘city’ – feels at times as though we are in the wilderness – on the outside of society.
What does this passage tell us about John’s voice?
1. John’s voice was unexpected and radical – it was a voice that ‘cut through’. People heard it. And the church too must be radical, unafraid of what we are and what we believe. The greatest ‘sin’ the church could ever have is to say nothing to this generation. Saying nothing means we don’t care. Where we have a place to speak (for example in matters of education, in local schools) let’s speak.
2. John’s voice was also consistent, distinctive – it was voice that was both understood and very clear. Who would listen to a person who changes their mind in the face of adversity or embarrassment? John never backed down, he said exactly ‘what was on the side of the tin’. It was this quality that led to his death – he told Herod exactly what he thought of his morality! And he lost his life because of it. So too the church must stand up for Biblical morality – no not pontificating like the religious leaders of John’s time, who were hypocritical and did not know God .. remember, John called them vipers for good reason. We must have a better voice than a ‘hissing’ viper!
3. Finally, John’s voice was engaging and insistent .. it ‘demanded a response’, it moved people. I believe that this generation needs just that . I firmly believe that if we speak as and when we have opportunity, we will have an impact/make an impression. Our enthusiasm for Christ must be infectious, gleeful, insistent, engaging.
My absolute prayer for Spinnaker is that we may be all thereof these qualities that John showed.
There is an analogy in the middle of this passage which we often overlook. In Matt 3:9b “I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
“These stones” .. what stones? What stones was John pointing to?
Were they stones on the ground? Or did he point to the people around him? Or maybe to the religious leaders?
Jesus used the analogy himself. In Luke 19:40 is the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem and going to the Temple, and the crowds were cheering (38) "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Typically some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
Jesus gave this almost obscure reply (v 40) "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Or if we read the parallel passage in Matt 21:16 we read that the ‘brood of vipers’ challenged Jesus
(Mat 21:15 NIV) But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. 16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?"
The churches voice must be this: yes, this generation can come to God and He will accept them, listen to them, love them and save them.
But perhaps the voice I long to hear is the voice of this generation praising God.
Psalm 8:1b O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Sermon
What kind of voice does the church have? Are we listened to and if not, why are we not listened to? Has the voice of the church been marginalised .. or is it, frankly, that what we have been saying has been insignificant or … not clear enough.
Or maybe we should ask what kind of voice ‘should’ the church have?
The ministry of John the Baptist was prophesied about in Isaiah 40
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
John’s ministry of preparing the way was prophesied and set to be a voice of comfort. A voice of warm compassion.
In Is 40:1 twice he is ‘told’ to be a voice of comfort and v2 he was told to “speak tenderly”.
Again in v2, it a voice of forgiveness “that her sin has been paid for”
I believe that the church has a role to play in modern society – none more significant than in the arena of education. I am sure we all long to see the church with a more unified and consistent voice. And this is especially the case when we consider the voice of the church in the arena of education.
And let me set out my argument very clearly straight away .. because I believe, above all, it must be a voice of support. How sad that one head teacher once told me that the only time they see Christian parents is when they come to complain about something they do not agree with.
We need a ‘tender’ voice, because a voice of comfort is always listened to; always acceptable. Indeed, it may be that it is the most powerful of voices. Surely Christ’s own ministry tells us that much.
So does John the Baptist comes with the voice of comfort? Er .. well. Not exactly!
The first words he speaks in Matt (in fact, in all the gospels) is telling the religious community they are a “brood of vipers!” and then insulted them by sarcastically asking them who were they listening to, when he asks “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
Try saying “you are a ‘brood of vipers’” in a kind voice .. doesn’t quite work does it!
Is it enough for the church merely to lob criticism at society – and if we do, can we blame anyone for not listening?
So John seems to have ‘two’ voices ..
• a voice of comfort
• a voice that demanded repentance
So what ‘voice’ does this generation (and their parents) need or expect the church to have?
Whatever ‘voice’ we decide upon .. I am certain the desired outcome is to ‘clear the way’. The way we ‘speak’ to society will determine how many boulders or stones we take out of the road. We need to make it easier for people to come to God .. not more difficult. I would suggest we make it more difficult when they don’t see us clearly and visibly live out our Christian faith
Matthew 3 gives us an idea of what John’s voice was.
But we start by grasping the fact that John’s was “A voice of one calling in the desert” – but there are not many people in the wilderness – funny sort of place for John to start. But John’s voice was a lone one .. one outside the city, and here I confess that I sometimes feel as though the Christian voice is outside the ‘city’ – feels at times as though we are in the wilderness – on the outside of society.
What does this passage tell us about John’s voice?
1. John’s voice was unexpected and radical – it was a voice that ‘cut through’. People heard it. And the church too must be radical, unafraid of what we are and what we believe. The greatest ‘sin’ the church could ever have is to say nothing to this generation. Saying nothing means we don’t care. Where we have a place to speak (for example in matters of education, in local schools) let’s speak.
2. John’s voice was also consistent, distinctive – it was voice that was both understood and very clear. Who would listen to a person who changes their mind in the face of adversity or embarrassment? John never backed down, he said exactly ‘what was on the side of the tin’. It was this quality that led to his death – he told Herod exactly what he thought of his morality! And he lost his life because of it. So too the church must stand up for Biblical morality – no not pontificating like the religious leaders of John’s time, who were hypocritical and did not know God .. remember, John called them vipers for good reason. We must have a better voice than a ‘hissing’ viper!
3. Finally, John’s voice was engaging and insistent .. it ‘demanded a response’, it moved people. I believe that this generation needs just that . I firmly believe that if we speak as and when we have opportunity, we will have an impact/make an impression. Our enthusiasm for Christ must be infectious, gleeful, insistent, engaging.
My absolute prayer for Spinnaker is that we may be all thereof these qualities that John showed.
There is an analogy in the middle of this passage which we often overlook. In Matt 3:9b “I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
“These stones” .. what stones? What stones was John pointing to?
Were they stones on the ground? Or did he point to the people around him? Or maybe to the religious leaders?
Jesus used the analogy himself. In Luke 19:40 is the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem and going to the Temple, and the crowds were cheering (38) "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Typically some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
Jesus gave this almost obscure reply (v 40) "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Or if we read the parallel passage in Matt 21:16 we read that the ‘brood of vipers’ challenged Jesus
(Mat 21:15 NIV) But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. 16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?"
The churches voice must be this: yes, this generation can come to God and He will accept them, listen to them, love them and save them.
But perhaps the voice I long to hear is the voice of this generation praising God.
Psalm 8:1b O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
posted by Parish Administrator at 3:54 pm
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