Sermon 10 - The prophets

Prophets

I wonder if you have ever regretted not following someone’s advice.

I have to say I did yesterday, I was due to pick up Megan from Dedworth and Kathryn texted me to say don’t go on the relief road as it is was really snarled up.

Well I don’t know why – but I just didn’t think it would be that bad- needless to say I was half an hour late to pick her up and almost got caught up in road rage on the way – it was so frustrating.

Sometimes well quite a lot of the time it is just not worth following good advice from a trustworthy source.

I start with this because we have reached the readings this week which focus on prophecy within the old testament.

The prophets who were sent to give good advice – sometimes tough advice – but never the less good advice from God, in fact perhaps advice is too loose a word for what they had to say – perhaps commands or instructions would be a better way of putting it.

And we know from the whole story that they didn’t always follow it and it was to their peril.

So today we look at the role of the prophets in the Old Testament and some of the key themes as well as what we can take from it today.

But I want to start with a bit of a recap on where they come in terms of the history of Israel, then think about who they were, and then what sort of things did they have to say, and then we will finish with application for today.

So a bit of a brief history lesson.

In the past few weeks in our readings we have seen a huge journey of the people of Israel,  we have seen them literally journey from nomadic tribesmen, into Egypt and then out again through the wilderness to the promised land.

We have seen them journey from having leaders to judges and then to Kings to be like the other nations.

We have seen throughout their journey as a nation the people going away from and then coming back to God.

And we finished our journey with them when they were at the height of their national identity in the reign of King David and then Solomon.

But what happened next?

Well in the next period of time it was yet again a very turbulent time for Israel.

They were being led by Kings some of which were holy and led the people to follow God but many of whom were not.
At the same time they were at risk from other nations and the Babylonian empire was becoming stronger, until finally the people of Israel were taken to Babylon in exile.

And it is at this point of time that we start to read the books of the prophets.

Because they cover this period of time of the reign of various kings of Israel and into there time of exile.

There are 16 books of prophecy in total covering this period of time,  within some of them we see reference to the risk of captivity, and in some it is obvious that it was during the time of captivity, some for example the book of Isaiah cover both times – before and after the people of Israel were in exile.

So if we see reference to the threat from other nations – then likely to be before exile

And if we see reference to salvation – then it is likely to be during exile.

So who were these prophets?

Well basically they were God’s messengers to the time.

They were ordinary people who God had called out to stand up for him against the goings on of the day.

Often they were uncertain to start with like we will see when we read passages from the beginning of Jeremiah.

Sometimes they had amazing experiences of meeting with God such as we see in Isaiah 6.

Often their words of prophecy are referred to as visions – and use amazing illustrations of the people’s sin and God’s response to this.

Often too we see the prophets themselves as rather strange figures – because their lives in many ways stand up against the prevailing culture of the day.

And in this we see God showing through their own lives aspects of himself.

One clear example of this is in the life of the prophet Hosea who was called to marry an adulteress woman as a picture of how God felt the pain of people rejecting him and how he constantly draws the people back to himself.

So what did the prophets have to say to the people and how are these 16 books of the bible still relevant today?

Well as you read through this week you will begin to see key themes that are contained within the prophets.

Whether or not the people were in exile there is the constant theme of God’s amazing love,  his judgement too but overarching this is his love.

Despite what they have done, despite how many times they have failed him, God is still calling them back and gives them hope for the future.

We read the prophets with the eyes of people who know the full story.

The promise of salvation to them from captivity was fulfilled when they returned to Israel.

To us we see the promise of salvation in a different light.

And that is the joy of the prophets,  much of the prophecy we see was not just pertinent for the people of the days in which it was given, but is also pertinent for today.

So we return to the prophets time and time again, we hear the words each year as we come to our carol services as we see the promise of Jesus echoes through these words.

So the promise of salvation that we see written in the prophets is just as real now as it was to the people way back then.

Despite what we do – God still reaches out to us, and he did that of course through the cross of Jesus Christ.

So a key theme for the prophets is the reaching out of God’s love and the promise of salvation.

But a key theme also is the expectation of God for us to live the way that pleases him.

We see time and time again within the prophets God’s displeasure over man’s actions.

Man’s inhumanity to man, the lack of thought of others.

God’s displeasure over the way man acts is evident.

The words of the prophets make stark reading when we consider our lives even today.

How many times even in our own churches do we consider the needs of the poor and marginalised?

How many times do we put others needs first before our own?

How many times do our actions trample over others who are not as fortunate as ourselves?

And as we read the prophets we realise God’s displeasure on our actions as well as the people of that day.

Things are not so different are they? People fundamentally haven’t changed in their self seeking actions and the out for all you can get culture.

But the prophets call us back to re-examine our live and call us to put our own house in order.

And the last theme I want to look at today is that of the need to put God first.

The prophets are full of description of Idolatory – the worship of other Gods.

And in this we see the people turn away from God to other things.

And this leads us nicely to our reading this morning from Daniel – (I bet you thought I’d never get there!)

What was the challenge to Daniel in this reading? The command he was given was to put aside God, to take the easy option and obey King Darius command.

But he chose instead to carry on putting his faith and his relationship with God first.

The priority of his life was to serve God not man.

He took the commandment to put God first above everything else seriously.

Here he is in exile in Babylon, in a strange country yet continuing to put his faith in God first.

And despite the risk to his own life this was paramount.

I wonder how you feel when you read this?  Perhaps you think Daniel was foolhardy, perhaps you wish you had that faith, perhaps you think its just a nice story and anyway I’l never be in such a situation so it doesn’t really apply to me anyway, perhaps you see the lions as some cartoon characters – nice cuddly lions that wouldn’t hurt a fly!

Well the reality of this story is- that Daniel was in danger, and his faith is an example to us all.

I am fairly certain that putting God first is probably the biggest thing that we struggle with as Christians,  because it concerns so many parts of our lives.

If I want to put God first then it will impact on how I live my life, how I relate to other people, how I handle my money,  and so on and son.

If I put God first then actually I will get increasingly upset about the inhumanities in the world and in our society and will want to work to change these

If I put God first then I will want to spend time in worship, I will want to help and encourage others to worship too.

But how often actually do we see worship as a nice added extra- what I can get out of it,  and I’ll go if I have time.

What is the example of Daniel – it was imperative, no excuses not to – even at the threat of his life.- he saw this as fundamental to his faith.

Putting God first isn’t easy as we saw in the example of Daniel – but the prophets constantly call us back to this, to stop having other Gods and to put the one true God first.

We may not have the Baal Gods or even be asked to bow down to a King, but what about the Gods of job success,  the God of the golf course or Gym, the God of the perfect home, and I could go on and on.

Because all of these things stop us putting God first, they stop us living by his priorities in our lives, they call us away from regularly spending time with him and other Christians in worship, they lead us to stop thinking about the poor and marginalised in society and seeing things from God’s perspective.

 

IF we take the words of the prophets seriously we are called back to the first commandment of God: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.

And what was Jesus’ summary of the law- what did he say was most important.

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and to love your neighbour as your love yourself.

This is no half hearted commitment this is a command which challenges all parts of our lives.

So my challenge to you as you consider Daniel and the rest of the prophets this week is this- If God isn’t your number one priority in life, what needs to change for you to put God where he belongs.

Sermon 9- the psalms and proverbs

Sermon at Dorney and Eton Wick 20th March 2011 – E100 The Psalms and Proverbs

What makes Christianity different from other religions? Well at the heart of our faith we have relationship. God himself three-in-one exemplifies relationship and God’s love is such that he was prepared to create us with the potential to love both God and each other. Christians believe that through Jesus we have the chance of a restored relationship with God.

Most religions say DO (you must do this and do that) but Christianity adds two more letters and says DONE. Jesus has done all that is required for you to return to a relationship with God. All you must do is accept it.

And what you may well ask has this to do with The Psalms and Proverbs. Psalms is a book of songs written by believers in response to God: written because the writers had a relationship with God. Written in many different situations but each one reflecting aspects of that loving relationship.

The great evangelist Billy Graham said that wherever he was in the world he always tried to make time to read at least two Psalms before breakfast. I know I need to become more familiar with the psalms so I really hope that by looking at 3 of the better known Psalms this week in the E 100 series, all of us will be inspired to read more – many are very short and even possibly we might try  to commit one or two to memory.

So, three very different Psalms which, although all attributed to David are very different responses to God at very different stages in his life.

Trust (Psalm 23) in this Psalm God is likened to a shepherd, a travelling companion and a host. Each of them is to be trusted and so in turn we can trust God in any and every situation. As verse 4 says “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me”. Christians can trust in God even in the worst of all situations. I dread to think of all the horror stories that will never be told of those that perished in Japan’s tsunami, those horrifying final minutes and seconds, yet even in great peril, as Christians, we can trust in a God that promises us everlasting life. Even the threat of oncoming death need not separate us from the love of God. We can trust him whatever.

Confession (Psalm 51)

We heard last week about the consequences of King David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 which we heard just now was written by David when he finally falls on his knees and asks for God’s forgiveness. Through this Psalm we get an understanding of God’s forgiveness, his compassion and his love. David has a deep faith in God’s absolute goodness and his ability to completely forgive sins so as to allow for a clean fresh start. This is a crucial message for all of us and worth dwelling on briefly.

When we confess (whatever we’ve done) we can be forgiven – do we confess? Do we simply say the confession at the start of each service we attend, or do we actually come before the Lord with a broken and contrite heart?  Confession can easily get overlooked in church as we are lost in wonder, love and praise.

Once we’ve been forgiven we need not live forever in guilt – are you still wracked by guilt? Notice that David says, in vs. 7 “cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” even after adultery and murder. We are not allowing God’s forgiveness to work if we continue to be wracked by guilt, we too need to believe in our innermost being that we have been remade, whiter than snow.

A red napkin is fundamentally red, it can be washed but it stays red, this represents us before we have ever asked God for his forgiveness. Once we have asked Jesus to forgive us and be part of our lives and to therefore be in a relationship with us we are transformed totally. We become like this white napkin, whiter than snow. But even then whilst we remain upon this earth we will inevitably fail to live perfect lives, we will not please God 100%. It’s like this white napkin becoming dirty, so we need to continually come back to God and ask for his forgiveness time and again in the same way that, although this white napkin is still white it will often need to be washed.

And then we must get on with living a life that will please our Lord out of gratitude for his forgiveness. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. ¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. ¹⁴ Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Praise (Psalm 103)

Psalm 103 reflects David’s new relationship with God. It is based on a restored sinner’s thankfulness to God and contains those great verses:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
   slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
   nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
   or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
   so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Notice that our sins have been removed as far from us as possible, this is a great cause for praise.

The thread of David and Bathsheba continues on into the next book of the Bible. Although the child that was conceived when David committed adultery with Bathsheba died in infancy we are told that once Bathsheba was married to David she became pregnant again and this time their son survived and became King Solomon and it is his wisdom that fills much of the book of proverbs and certainly the chapters we will read this week. This means that when Solomon writes about the relationship between sons and their parents he is thinking of David and Bathsheba as well as his own sons.

Psalms mostly reflects on our spiritual relationship with God, Proverbs on the other hand is much more down to earth and practical. Reading the book of Proverbs is quite difficult in some ways; it is so densely packed with bits and pieces of advice and guidance that it’s impossible to take in all that one reads even in a chapter, let alone 3 or 4 chapters at a time as we are encouraged to read during the E100 readings for this week.

But...it hits us where is counts. I have never read even a small section of Proverbs without feeling truly enlightened about life and informed regarding specific situations in my life.

Even when I was preparing this sermon I read 3:27-28 “ ²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. ²⁸ Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

It made me stop and go and do something that I ought to have been doing – it was in my power to act, so why not?

There is so much SENSE in Proverbs that we really ought to read it more often. There is huge encouragement and indeed even a hint of humour and so much of it pertains directly to the situations we find ourselves in day in day out.

There is practical wisdom such as:

17:14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out

17:28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

18:13 He who answers before listening - that is his folly and shame.

And then guidance about wisdom and its advantages 

We read 2:13 “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable then silver and yields better returns than gold”

It’s impossible to read the Psalms or proverbs and not to come away changed. Because they were written in response to God and written to be used by people; they are as integral to our lives today as they were when originally written.

So how did Solomon become so wise? Well, the Bible tells us in the book of 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 1: 7 - 10 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”  ⁸ Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰ Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Have you ever prayed to God and asked for wisdom, either wisdom in a specific situation or just wisdom generally? Ask and it shall be given unto you; God wants us to ask for good things.

Let me leave you with three things to remember:

First – the Christian life is a relationship and we can express all facets of this relationship through the Psalms.

Secondly – God is waiting to forgive us and so return to a right relationship with us, he wants us to be whiter than snow, even more than we do. We were born as red table napkins and so unable to be in a relationship with God but because of what Jesus has DONE we can become white table napkins.

And Thirdly - Proverbs is an excellent source of day to day wisdom; read it, act on it and ask God to help you to be wise.

Sermon 7 - the rise of Israel 27th February

The Rise of Israel.

I used to love watching Casualty on a Saturday evening.

I guess it took me back to my nursing days –

But when I used to watch it I used to be watching out to see what was going to go wrong.

When you began to see a scenario being laid in front of you – your reaction is now who is going to have the accident, what accident is going to happen.

It seems inevitable – because it’s the reason behind the programme – that some disastrous thing is going to go wrong and of course Charlie and the others from the A and E are going to end up having to put them all together again.

They nurses and the drs an paramedics are the heros of the hour who we put our trust in to make things better – to hold it all together despite the chaos that can rage around them.

When I read through the old testament I have a similar feeling in he pit of my stomach – because it seems to me that so much seems to go wrong.

Where things start so well inevitably they end in disaster as people fail in their relationship with God.

We had it last week – examples of the Judges who for a time brought the people back to God before they rejected him again.

And who is the person that holds it together despite the chaos that people get themselves into – well of course it is God – who keeps loving and loving his people – despite what they do – despite how they treat him.

It is God who constantly draws them back to himself.

This weeks readings are no different from the rest.

This week we move into a new phase of the life of the people of Israel and into what was probably their greatest hour in terms of their heritage and national pride.

You see this week we see a united nation with a ruler as we enter the time of the Kings and in particular the reign of the greatest King David.

But it seems to take a long time to get there in terms of our readings – 5 days before we finally see David taking up his kingship.

So what will we see this week in our readings.

Well they start and end with faithfulness of two individuals – even though in the middle the people may all go a bit astray.

So we start with the faithfulness of Hannah, childless and pouring her heart out to God in prayer.

And she is heard and in turn gives birth to Samuel who she dedicates to God.

The child Samuel grows up in the house of Eli the priest and becomes receptive to hear God speaking to him even from a young age.

Then the people not content with the “Seers” or wise men or women Judges that have been leading them demand to be like the other nations and look for a King.

God although once more disappointed with their actions allows this and Samuel goes in search of the man God has chosen.

Saul is anointed King and remains faithful for a period, led by the Holy Spirit.

But soon looses his way so in turn Samuel goes out again to anoint a King and this time finds David the shepherd boy who has a right heart.

After David is anointed he waits in the wings to be King, and we have the wonderful account of David and Goliath, and then the stories of David’s popularity spreading until enraged by this Saul banishes him and looks to kill him.

Eventually David is in the right position and on Saul’s death he is made King of Israel and the start of an era of power for the people of Israel really begins.

So that’s the basic story but what themes can we see within this.

And I would like to think about three I see this week – all beginning with P

Gods priorities, his pain and his plan.

God’s priorities.

When we see the people that God chooses to do his work – there is one overwhelming thing that strikes me- and that is their humility.

We don’t have any of them saying – pick me God I’m the best one for the job – but time and time again we read of the humility – what me surely not God – surely I’m not the sort of person you are looking for.

Moses – send someone else he said, 

Gideon in the last weeks readings if it is me and you are God show me clearly.

And now in this reading we see it in the people God chose to be King – Saul and David.

Saul was chosen and anointed by Samuel privately so what is reaction to it.

Well you will see he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops but he quietly goes home and doesn’t own up to what has happened til Samuel summons the tribes together to announce Saul’s Kingship.

And where is Saul to be found – well he’s hiding, perhaps the burden of responsibility is too great and he wants to run away from it, so he hides in the luggage.

And then when it all goes wrong with Saul David is chosen to be King.

And again this is not someone who would have been the natural choice is you were looking at it in human terms.

He wasn’t the strongest or the tallest – he wasn’t even very old – he was still the shepherd boy in the fields.

The people that God chose were not perhaps the natural choice in human terms but God saw something else than human terms.

Chapter 16: 7 “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.

And what did God see in the heart of those he chose – a love of himself and an attitude of humility and service.

Move this now forward til today, God still calls unlikely people to his service.

We need to be open to how God may want to use us – we may not always feel that we are fit for the job, but God can and does equip us for his service.

As we look at God’s priorities the question then is – what is God calling each of us too?

Then the second P

God’s Pain.

How do you feel when others seem to reject your faith.

Perhaps not in an overt and persecutive way – but in terms of “well it’s nice that you have something that makes you feel good”

The little put downs that see faith as a crutch, or just another interest you may have like this or that committee.

We feel uncomfortable with this – we may even get a little wrangled by it.

We may even feel that we are not being taken seriously – that something that is so important in our lives is not being recognised for what it is.

Well at this time we need to go back to these passages and recognise God’s pain too.

How did God feel when the people of Israel constantly rejected him and went back to other Gods.

He felt Pain

How did God feel when the people decided that they wanted a King to lead them- he felt pain.

Chapter 8:7 – 8

And the Lord told him (Samuel) “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.”

That verse speaks to me so clearly of God’s pain of those who have rejected him.

He has tried and tried to bring them back to himself, he has the power just to make it happen but he knows that that would be to control them so he gives the people a choice.

And when they fail to chose him he is deeply saddened.

He recognises Samuel’s pain too, that the people wanted a King just to be like the other nations rather than to recognise the priestly role that Samuel had had in the past.

But he says very clearly if you feel this pain – how do you think I feel.

And it is the same today – when we feel that our faith has been rejected or not even acknowledged  - we may feel it but we need to recognise that God feels it too.

That it is not “us” who are being rejected but God.

God’s priorities, God’s pain and finally-

God’s plan

Throughout these readings in the Old testament that we have read over the past few weeks we see an underlying thread of God’s plan.

That he despite all the wranglings of humankind he will bring things to pass for his glory.

And in individuals too as we look back on their lives we see a sense of God’s plan throughout.

David is no exception here in 1 Samuel.

He had been anointed King as a relatively young man and yet he had to wait several years for this to come to fruition.

All through that time he much have been wondering what on earth was happening.

Whether or not God had forgotten about this bit of his plan.

He was chased by Saul, forced into hiding and the promise of his anointing as King finally came into being many years later.

In this time though had got forgotten about him, no – and more than that these times must have been used to change and grow David into the sort of man who was to make one of the greatest rulers in the history of Israel.

And we too can be like a bit like David in our lives too.
Often we can’t understand what it happening, we can’t see why something should happen in this way or that.

But only when we look back over time do we recognise God’s weaving and crafting and using of different situations to change us, to teach us, to use us in different ways.

So we need to hold on to trusting in God despite what happens in our lives and be open to how he may be working in and through us.

And  then of course when we look at the story of David and the rise of a new King in Israel we can not fail to recognise the finger pointing to the future and the rise of a new King who was to rule not over just Israel but over the whole world.

This King will be a descendent of David,

But this King – King Jesus will rule in a different way to earthly Kings.

And the calling to follow this King is one of service as we see so clearly in Jesus’ words in Matthew 16.

God’s priorities, his pain and his plan, all three echoed through the readings this week.

And God ultimately in control despite the times man gets it so wrong, and his control pointing to a solution when he will send a new King who will not be just the saviour of Israel but of the world.

Amen

Sermon 6 - the Judges from Janet Binns

Eton Wick and Dorney 20/02/2011

Bible reading:  Judges 2  10- 23 & Matthew 21 33-46

Themes: Obedience Disobedience Salvation

 Application:  The struggles of God’s people to remain obedient but God’s forgiveness is always present.

1.      Introduction

-         Illus: meal out – relaxed atmosphere “ no rules”

-         However look carefully we are surrounded by rules

-         rules that we are quite relaxed about.

-         From booking, to being seated and given a menu.

-         We wouldn’t dream of walking in taking a seat

-         demand that the chef provide something not on the menu and then walk out without paying

-        

-         society has strong feelings against those who break rules of etiquette & good manners

-         Yet God has spoken, His rules are clear

-         the rules He gave us were commandments not  Suggestions

-         Not to be adhered to when the moods takes us

-          

-          it’s important that we are aware of the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience in life.

-        

-         Abraham received instructions from God to leave his country, his people and father’s household, that he would be blessed and all people on earth would be blessed through him.

-         Passage tells us Abraham left as the Lord commanded

-        

2.      The Judges

-         In the Book of Judges, we see the consequence of disobedience .

-         during the time between the death of Joshua and the anointing of King Saul the people found themselves without a leader

-         It was a period of internal anarchy and external conflict, for the most part day to day administration of justice and oversight of community affairs was provided locally by the elders of various clans and tribes. God raised up Judges to deal with matters that could not be settled quickly or easily.

-         Ch 2 states, “The Lord raised up judges who saved Israel out of the hands of raiders. Yet they would not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them” (16-17).

-         It was a disastrous time in Isreal’s history. God’s people were led to Canaan to conquer the land, but instead they became infected with the idolatry of Canaanite people.

3.      The Canaanites

-         They (Israelites) became a permissive society, drawing their standards from those around them. Finding themselves surrounded by settlements of unconquered Canaanites the Israelites became attracted to the practises of their neighbours

-         Their disobedience complete; they mutilated a captured king and, instead of driving them out completely pressed the Canaanites into forced labour

-         The book displays a clash of values.

-         the Canaanites were experienced farmers who had attributed their ability to control the soil and weather to the worship of various male and female nature gods the Baals and Ashtoreths

-         The Israelites were very attracted to these gods and increasingly mixed their worship of them with the worship of their own God.

-         Envitably their loyalty to God and to one another became weak and resulted in spiritual and moral decline, so serious it threaten to destroy Israelite community.

4.      Being Canaanised

-         Paul urges us to prevent the world from fitting us into its mold (Rom 12:1-2); we have to guard against becoming secular in our thinking, which can result in compromising our behaviour.

-         Sometimes we are content to be “Canaanised”; we grow far too comfortable living as the world dictates. But we answer to a higher authority; God has called us to higher standards.

-         Israel’s complete disobedience led to compromise with idolatry, inter-marriage, and eventually to everyone doing “as they saw fit” (17:6, 21:25)…”No rules”.

5.      Idols in our lives

-         We can slip into a sense of false security when we read about Israel’s idolatry—after all, we’re not bowing down to idols!

-         We forget that the old gods are still with us; they’ve simply updated their appearance, accommodating the times.

-         They still claim to provide meaning to life and they still promise to provide for our personal desires. They still demand wholehearted commitment from their worshippers.

-         Today’s most popular idols are materialism, comfort, power, pride, sexual immorality- greed etc. e.g. Bankers bonuses in the news this week.

-         The modern idols are no less unacceptable than the ancient ones. We need to be free from all idols,

-          Ancient and modern, and Christ offer such freedom!

6.      Parable of the Tenants

-         In the parable of the tenants Jesus begins his story with a very familiar hallmark of the Middle Eastern agriculture, a vineyard.

-         But Jesus’ parable of the vineyard is unique. It is not just a story, but an allegory, with each part representing something else.

-         A man (who represents God in the parable) plants the vineyard and then rents it to tenants.

-         Unlike today, tenant farmers are usually paid by allowing them to keep a portion of the harvest, with a fixed percentage going to the owner.

7.      The owners’ son

-         But these tenants didn’t want to share. When the owner’s representatives come to claim the owner’s share, the tenants beat and mistreat them

-         It’s pretty clear to the disciples who have heard Jesus’ teaching who he is referring to.

-         He sees the current rulers doing the same as their ancestors - killing the prophets who were sent to Israel to correct them and turn their hearts back to God.  

-         So in this parable, the tenants represent the unbelieving rulers, while the vineyard is nation of Israel itself. But this rebelliousness does not refer only to killing the prophets.

-         The owner’s son who should be offered respect is thrown out of the vineyard and killed him." (20:13-15a) the son is the Son of God whose death takes place outside the city on Golgotha.

-         "What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!" (20:15b-16)

8.      Having our own way

-         Turn back to Joshua 24 and we see the renewal of the covenant at Shecham

-         Joshua said to the people ‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to God.’

-         We began looking at judges by talking about our own tendency to rebel against God and his will.

-         We want our own way, prefer our own way, and resent it when we can’t get it. Too often there are issues we war with God about – the loss of a loved one, a financial crisis, a difficult situation we have difficulty resolving.

9.      Land of Milk and Honey

-         The period of the Judges was a time of war. The Jewish nation was charged with driving out the Canaanites.

-         I’ve wondered why God would give His people an occupied promised land. You’d think this “land of milk and honey” would be vacant, open to development but instead of simply arriving and settling down; the Jews have to conquer Canaan.

-         After the hardships of the wilderness they are forced to deal with internal and external conflict. Possibly God’s reason was to cause His people to trust in His power to grant them victory.

10.   Christian Distinctiveness

-         In the Book of Judges we see a chosen nation risking assimilation by a pagan culture. God warns Israel that the Canaanites will be “thorns in their sides, and their gods a snare to them”

-         The challenge of this book for us is maintaining commitment to God in a hostile, secular environment

-         In our pluralistic society it’s uncomfortable to stand out, or to appear intolerant. Yet God has called us to be distinct, to show by what we say and do that we belong to Christ.

-         We are not to dilute the Gospel. We proclaim Jesus as the only Saviour and Lord, which sets us apart. The word “saint” literally means one set apart—we are compelled to be different from our unbelieving world, living our distinctive Biblical values and priorities and convictions - even if that means we don’t quite fit in.

-         As always in such circumstances, however there were faithful Israelites who continued quietly to pursue lives of genuine piety and holiness.

11.   Conclusion

-         As we continue to study the book of Judges this week, we’ll encounter familiar heroes such as Gideon, Deborah, and Samson, along with some lesser-known individuals.

-         A theme throughout the Book of Judges is that the God Who rightly casts us to the ground should stoop to lift us up.

-         No book of the Bible so clearly reveals our human frailty, but throughout we see unmistakable signs of God’s patience and compassion.

-         A God who time and time again calls back his people to himself in a covenant relationship that continues from one generation to the next.