We all expect judges to judge. Police to pull over the speeding driver. The parent to reign in an unruly child. Today Tonight to find the shonky wedding planner who has ruined the bride's big day. But allow God to judge? That's wrong. God is a god of love...God would never judge anyone...
But if Today Tonight can judge...surely God can. Have you ever told someone "Go to hell!"? So, you can judge but not God?
God's judgment therefore is not something to shy away from or be embarrassed about. Rather it is good news and light in a dark world. One day judgment will fall and all wicked, evil and injustices will be overthrown. All that is wrong will be made right. Isn't that welcoming good news?
And so when we come to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah we can see God's justice at work. And you'll notice two things. Firstly, God is slow to anger...
Genesis 18:20, 21 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."
God does not fly off the handle. Unlike the parent who lashes out or the teenager who talks before they think God's judgment is informed and reasoned.
Which raises the question why? Why not flick the city off the map? Because judgment is never God's final word. Grace is...
Genesis 18:32 Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" The Lord answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
For the sake of ten "good" people God is willing to spare a city full of ratbags. A city that gave a damn about no-one (Genesis 13:13; Ezekiel 16:49). God is willing to show grace to anyone who would turn and receive it.
So Lot accepts God's grace...but only just (19:16). He really didn't want to let go of the world. Lot's future sons-in-law laughed in the face of grace and knocked it back (19:14). And though Mrs Lot was staring grace in the face she sadly turned her back on it (19:26). And so only a few escaped the judgment that fell.
It'd be tempting to think that I'm not like that...and that God would never judge me. I've received God's grace so I'm okay. But listen to Peter...
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Judgment begins with the Church. It begins with the person holding the placard "God hates fags". It begins with the minister decrying corrupt governments. It begins with the Church goer bemoaning the teenage hooligans in her street. Judgment begins with us and so what sort of people ought we to be?
We are to live a life that reflects the grace that has been shown to me. We must not be like Lot hesitating with the good news, happy to have one foot in the kingdom and the other in the world. And we need to take the good news out into the world...
2 Peter 3:9 God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance
God is still slooow to anger. God still holds out grace. And one day God will judge. All that is wrong will be made right. But judgment is never God's final word - grace is. Therefore let us live out the grace that has been shown to us. Let us live in light of that great day.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Giving God a helping hand Genesis 16, 17
DIY shows are everywhere. The impossible now seems possible - the deck surrounding the pool...the new kitchen and bathroom...the bedroom makeover...the pergola and patio. But what we don't see is that these DIY shows are run by experts which are backed up by a team of experts. They're the ones off screen doing the real work whilst the hosts are giggling in front of the camera and wondering "Will we get it all finished in time?"
DIY is an attitude that we can have towards God and his promises. We're happy to trust God with the situation in Afghanistan...but take matters into our own hands when it comes to our money. We're happy to trust God with Sudan...but not how I feel about an ex, or my parents or some other relationship. We're happy to trust and pray that the situation is under control in North Korea...but in terms of my own future it's amazing how God's will seems to align itself with mine. What a coincidence...or is it?
Abram's is famous for having great faith...but it wasn't focused 100% of the time...
Genesis 16:1-6 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Rather than relying on God's perfect timing to fulfill his promise Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands. Their DIY ends up in hurt, misery and alienation. But rather than rub out Abram God remains faithful to his promise...
Genesis 17:3-8 God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
God repeats his promise to Abram. The thrust of which can be seen in all the "I wills". When you count them all you realise that it is God who will keep the promise; it God who will do all this; all Abram needs to do is trust and obey. Which he finally does...
Genesis 17:23-27 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.
That must have hurt. But it was a sign that Abraham also cut off his DIY religion and began believing once again that God would keep his promise.
So how about you? Are you willing to cut off your stranglehold on your finances and trust them to God? Are you willing to cut off your grip on sex, relationships, career, the future and let God guide you in these big life decisions? What's to lose? God remained to faithful to Abraham though he did some lame brain things in his life. He came to realise that his DIY God paled in comparison to the real deal. Let us realise the same.
DIY is an attitude that we can have towards God and his promises. We're happy to trust God with the situation in Afghanistan...but take matters into our own hands when it comes to our money. We're happy to trust God with Sudan...but not how I feel about an ex, or my parents or some other relationship. We're happy to trust and pray that the situation is under control in North Korea...but in terms of my own future it's amazing how God's will seems to align itself with mine. What a coincidence...or is it?
Abram's is famous for having great faith...but it wasn't focused 100% of the time...
Genesis 16:1-6 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
Rather than relying on God's perfect timing to fulfill his promise Abram and Sarai take matters into their own hands. Their DIY ends up in hurt, misery and alienation. But rather than rub out Abram God remains faithful to his promise...
Genesis 17:3-8 God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
God repeats his promise to Abram. The thrust of which can be seen in all the "I wills". When you count them all you realise that it is God who will keep the promise; it God who will do all this; all Abram needs to do is trust and obey. Which he finally does...
Genesis 17:23-27 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.
That must have hurt. But it was a sign that Abraham also cut off his DIY religion and began believing once again that God would keep his promise.
So how about you? Are you willing to cut off your stranglehold on your finances and trust them to God? Are you willing to cut off your grip on sex, relationships, career, the future and let God guide you in these big life decisions? What's to lose? God remained to faithful to Abraham though he did some lame brain things in his life. He came to realise that his DIY God paled in comparison to the real deal. Let us realise the same.
All that glitters Genesis 13-15
The Hubble Telescope got off to a shaky start but has over time produced the most amazing images of space and time ever. Hubble has enabled us to look with incredible detail into far away places never seen before.
Wouldn't it be great to have Hubble-like vision here on earth? To be able to look so forward that we'd understand were we are heading, what the future holds and how things would pan out. Wouldn't it be great to have Hubble-vision?
Abram's nephew Lot is not interested in having this type of vision - he's content to seeing only as far as his nose. So, Lot looked at Sodom; he saw that it was beautiful and took possession of it. The grass looked greener. But before Abram could feel cheated, God appeared to him and reminds him of not what he should look to, but who...
Genesis 13:14-15 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted."
And...
Genesis 15:5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be."
God reminds Abram that there are two ways to look. One is to look to at the earth; the other to God. One is to things that are temporary, the other toward eternity. God calls upon Abram to look to him. To trust in his promises. To not be sucked by what he sees...to not be like Lot. Looks can be deceiving. All that glitters is not gold...
And so how are your eyes? Do you look to God or are you diverted by the things of this earth? Are you fixing your eyes on God's promises or on fighting the seven signs of ageing...looking thinner...more money...bigger house...retirment et al? How often do you look forward to God fulfilling God's promises...because this is what Abram was famous for...
Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham...made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country...for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Lot's eyes were fixed in the things of the earth; the temporary buildings of men...which were later to crumble and fall. But Abram looked forward to the city that lasts forever. From humble, small, insignificant beginnings, he looked to the day God would fulfill his promises. That's what you call eyes of faith. Telescopic-Hubble-like eyes of faith. Let us do the same.
Wouldn't it be great to have Hubble-like vision here on earth? To be able to look so forward that we'd understand were we are heading, what the future holds and how things would pan out. Wouldn't it be great to have Hubble-vision?
Abram's nephew Lot is not interested in having this type of vision - he's content to seeing only as far as his nose. So, Lot looked at Sodom; he saw that it was beautiful and took possession of it. The grass looked greener. But before Abram could feel cheated, God appeared to him and reminds him of not what he should look to, but who...
Genesis 13:14-15 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted."
And...
Genesis 15:5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be."
God reminds Abram that there are two ways to look. One is to look to at the earth; the other to God. One is to things that are temporary, the other toward eternity. God calls upon Abram to look to him. To trust in his promises. To not be sucked by what he sees...to not be like Lot. Looks can be deceiving. All that glitters is not gold...
And so how are your eyes? Do you look to God or are you diverted by the things of this earth? Are you fixing your eyes on God's promises or on fighting the seven signs of ageing...looking thinner...more money...bigger house...retirment et al? How often do you look forward to God fulfilling God's promises...because this is what Abram was famous for...
Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham...made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country...for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Lot's eyes were fixed in the things of the earth; the temporary buildings of men...which were later to crumble and fall. But Abram looked forward to the city that lasts forever. From humble, small, insignificant beginnings, he looked to the day God would fulfill his promises. That's what you call eyes of faith. Telescopic-Hubble-like eyes of faith. Let us do the same.
Trials of faith and family Genesis 12
Blessing. What is it? Where do you get it from? How can you hold onto it?
After 11 chapters of Genesis, there is no blessing. From the wonder of creation life on earth has fallen and fallen and fallen. With the people scattered from Babel, were can blessing be found and kept?
God enters the scene and is ready to introduce blessing once again. But God also introduces us to a stranger - Abram and it is to and through him that God promises blessing. It is a great promise to an insignificant man...
Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
So what do you do with a promise like that? You believe it and you put your faith in action...
Genesis 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.
God says leave and Abram goes. That's faith in action. That's a willingness to receive God's blessings and to trust that only in God's promises real blessing can be found and kept.
In the weeks ahead we'll see Abram's faith grow and fail at times. But we'll see a man who's trust remains in God's promises and in his blessings.
After 11 chapters of Genesis, there is no blessing. From the wonder of creation life on earth has fallen and fallen and fallen. With the people scattered from Babel, were can blessing be found and kept?
God enters the scene and is ready to introduce blessing once again. But God also introduces us to a stranger - Abram and it is to and through him that God promises blessing. It is a great promise to an insignificant man...
Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
So what do you do with a promise like that? You believe it and you put your faith in action...
Genesis 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.
God says leave and Abram goes. That's faith in action. That's a willingness to receive God's blessings and to trust that only in God's promises real blessing can be found and kept.
In the weeks ahead we'll see Abram's faith grow and fail at times. But we'll see a man who's trust remains in God's promises and in his blessings.
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