22/08/04 St. John’s CTP with Baptism Hebrews 12:18-end
1. Slide 1 This looks like a nice spot for a picnic. Lots of people go there regularly. The River Valency in Boscastle Cornwall.
Slide 1.1 through to 7 (timed) On Monday afternoon more than three inches of rain fell in less than one hour, there was also a freak high tide at the time. The river burst it’s banks and flood water swept through the village ten feet higher than the river level and in places 100 yards wide. The village was devastated in no time, houses were swept away and every car in the central car park was swept out to sea like little toys, along with trees and buildings… more than 1000 residents are homeless. You have probably already seen some of the pictures of the devastation. We are stunned by the power of a little river and a wave only ten feet high. Can’t imagine what a tidal wave of a 100 feet, a tsunami must look lie.. and to be honest I don’t think I would want to experience it myself.
By the way have you ever noticed how when something bad happens God gets the blame, and people say “Why did God let this happen?” and when people escape from some disaster, or avoid being part of some tragedy, the same folk say “Weren’t they lucky?” I think that the police in Cornwall were right to give God the credit for the fact that not a single life was lost in that village quote from a news report: Police said it was a miracle that no one appeared to have lost their life . Despite the fact that Boscastle was home to Cornwall’s Museum of Witchcraft, God’s angels seemed to have been working overtime, and every life at risk was saved.
The flood in Boscastle.. and then the reports of the landslides on the road up in Scotland… were a reminder to us of how uncertain life can be. Everything around us can seem so settled... and in a moment things can change.
3. Slide 8 Now that is not to worry you. It’s just how things are. That is part of what makes life interesting. If you always knew what was going to happen you could never have a pleasant surprise, (slide 8a) never know the joy of discovering something you didn’t know before, or meeting someone you hadn’t expected to see. Life is unpredictable, it does mean that sometimes things might happen that we don’t enjoy, and it also means that sometimes we might discover things that we never expected. You can get up one day, and meet someone, or discover something that will change your life for ever, for the better, and you could never have guessed it was going to happen.
4. (Slide 9) The people of Israel, who were mentioned at the start of the bible passage were on a journey of discovery. They could never have guessed what was going to happen to them. The reading this morning mentioned something that happened early in their journey.
The people were a large group of many thousands of slaves, men women, children, who had been set free from the power and control of the King of Egypt… the Pharaoh. Maybe you know some of the story. They were being led by Moses who had come to them with the message that the God of all creation was taking a personal interest in them, and that HE was at work to set them free.
Well over the next few months those slaves in Egypt had seen some pretty amazing weather… hail, plagues of locusts, storms, invasions of frogs.. you name it… it all made Boscastle last week seem like a desirable place to be. And all the time the slaves were looked after, they could see disaster happening all around them to the people who were oppressing them, but there was no loss of life or damage to any of the Israelite slaves. No wonder they said .. like the police in Cornwall.. It’s a miracle.
Maybe to start off with King of Egypt was putting all these strange events down to global warming or climate change… but he finally came to the conclusion that after all there was a God who was taking a personal interest in these slaves… and reluctantly, he let them go.
And so led by Moses… they left Egypt… several adventures you can all read about in this book (Exodus) and then the day came when Moses said (Slide 10)
“OK God has told me to stop here at this mountain, Mount Sinai. He is going to meet with us and tell us something that we need to know.”
(Slide 10a) How do you think they felt about that?
5. (Slide 10b) My daughter can’t send emails at the moment. That’s because last week there was a lightning strike (Slide 11) near to where she lives in Abingdon… blew up the NTL cable box, and her X-box games machine, took out the telephone, cut-off the electricity supply, and frazzled the modem on her computer. That doesn’t happen very often.. happened to her and her neighbours.
For most of us, things like that are things that we hear about, or see on the TV or read about in papers. Every now and then we are reminded that we live in a world where there are tremendously powerful forces at work all around us.
These escaped slaves lived a lot closer to these natural forces than most of us do. They weren’t protected or insulated from them in the way that we are. They would not be surprised about a river flooding… they knew.. that’s what rivers do. They knew much better than us about the power of wind and storm and lightning and rain. And logic and common sense told them that powerful as all these forces of nature are,
they must be as nothing when compared to the power of the one who made them all.
So how did they feel when Moses said they were going to meet with God? They were worried!!
(Slide 12)
The creator of the whole universe had rescued them from slavery, and now he was inviting them live in relationship with him. In another part of the bible it says that the people said to Moses… You tell us what God says, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us. If he does, we will die!" (Exodus 20:19) And in the passage this morning the writer remembers that even (slide 12a) Moses said “I am terrified and trembling.”
If you had to meet with God, how would you feel?
6. (Slide 13)They did stay around at the mountain long enough to hear the Ten Commandments from God. And they all agreed that they were good commandments, designed to make life better, not worse. And they were to discover, just as every generation of people ever since has discovered… that simply knowing what is the right thing to do is never enough to make sure that they do it. Time and again people break God’s commandments… and whenever that happens they spoil the relationship between themselves and God.
7. Here is another verse from the bible passage this morning… (Slide 14) You have come to God himself, who is the judge of all people.
Just imagine if God turned up here now and said
“ N. I want to speak with you. Give me an account of what you have done with the life that I have given to you. Tell me how you have used your time; tell me how you have loved and cared for the people I gave you to love and care for; tell me how you have obeyed my commandments, tell me how honest how patient, how kind, how trustworthy, how much like Jesus you have been. Oh and don’t forget.. before you start to speak… I already know everything that there is to know about you, I know about everything that you have ever thought, said and done. But I would like you to tell me in your own words… and then I will decide what I am going to do with you.”
Would you say “Sure. Cool . No problem God. How long have you got? I’m sure you’ll be pleased with everything I have ever done!”
Or would you feel just a little bit nervous if the creator of all things was coming now to judge you and your life.
8. Those escaped Israelite slaves who trembled with fear when they met with God still had to learn about the character of the God who invited them to live in relationship with him… (Slide 15)
How well do you know him?
God IS powerful. He is more powerful than the most powerful natural phenomenon... We can be awestruck at the size of the universe and our imaginations simply cannot comprehend the awesome power of the big bang that scientist say could have been the event that brought this physical universe into being… God was behind all that... his power is greater even than the power of the big bang… And yet… the writer of this passage was looking forward to meeting God, and encouraging his friends that they could look forward to meeting GOD.
Just look how he describes it… (Slide 16)
You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws… No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels in joyful assembly. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven
Put like that… meeting with the creator of all things sounds like it could be OK. I like the world joyful. I like the idea that my name is already written in heaven. I like the idea that I would be welcomed into heaven, like a loving parent welcomes and loves a child.
Now why? Why is this writer so confident that meeting God is something to look forward to?
9. Well… this writer had discovered something that it is important that every person in the place knows and understands.
(Slide 17) ? Do you know what is most awesome about God? It is not the power that he displays through his creation, flinging galaxies into space and bringing the universe to life. What is most awesome about God is the fact that he takes a personal loving interest in me, and in you - in each and everyone of us. And so great is the interest he has in us that he wants us to be able to live in friendship with him that he found a way to make it possible for us to be forgiven for the things that we ought to be judged for, forgiven for the things that make us guilty, guilty of failing to be the people that God created us to be. And the power God has, that is greater than any other power, is the power of his love. (17B)
You see in this unpredictable life the only certain thing is that one day it will end, and we will meet with the creator of all things, who gave us the gift of this life.
And how we feel about that on the day we meet him... will depend on what we have discovered about him during our journey through this life now. The writer of this passage said to his friends that they could look forward to meeting with God because, as he put it…
(Slide 18) You have come to Jesus…
Jesus came to make forgiveness possible.
When we know that we are forgiven.. then we know that we will not have to face God as our judge. That is why it is important to keep in touch with God, to be humble before him and to acknowledge the things that we need to be forgiven.. because everything that he forgives, he will not want to hear about again. God will not judge us for what he has forgiven.
(Slide 19) When Jesus said My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. (John10:10) He meant it. God wants us to live life now as it was meant to be lived - in friendship with him - so that we can look forward to that time when we will meet him.
Slide 20 When Jesus said… God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John3:16) He spoke the truth.
Slide 21 When Jesus said God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. (John3:17) He was telling us that just as much as the people in Boscastle, we need to be rescued.
Slide 22 When Jesus said…There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. He was giving us Good News. Slide 22a
And when Jesus said… But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. He was giving us a warning that we all need to hear and understand.
(Slide 23) God wants to speak to you. How do you feel about that? Do you want to know him as your friend?
The creator of all things – do you want him to welcome you like a loving parent welcomes a child, or do you want to stand before him as your judge ? (slide 24)
One thing we do know for certain.
God cares passionately about each and every one of us. And he cares for us far too much to ever try to turn us into puppets on a string, pulled and manipulated by him. He loves you .. but he can never make you love him. That is something that you choose to do when
you come to Jesus. Whether or not you love God is a decision that you have to make for yourself.. it is the most important decision you can ever make… and having made that decision, then every day you will ened to commit yourself to it afresh. Just like having once married, if the relationship is to grow and develop, then every day you need to commit yourself to it. It is the same with your relationship with God.
How will you meet him.. today… as a loving parent… or as your judge?
It is up to you to choose.