Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

September 14, 2008

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-10; Romans 12:13

Hospitality II – Pursue Hospitality!

So hospitality is also something God instructs all of us to practice; hospitality is something the Lord Jesus tells us to pursue. Pursue hospitality, says our text from Romans. Make it a goal, set it down on your “to-do” list, look for occasions to practice it, improve your skills.

That then is my theme this morning, “Pursue Hospitality.” Let me first do a short review of what we covered last week. Then go on to see how God taught Israel to treat strangers, who then were to be seen as guests in the land. After that I would make a few, what I hope will be practical observations on hospitality. I want to conclude by returning to the basics of hospitality as our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us.

Last week we saw that the two phrases in Hebrews 13:1,2 were placed alongside of one another: philadelphia, brotherly love, and philoxenia, love of strangers. We saw that the Lord our God commanded us to practice philoxenia both in the Old and in the New Testaments. We saw Abraham as he entertained the angels as an example of godly hospitality. We looked at the horrible treatment Sodom and Gibeah gave to strangers and how the Lord took terrible vengeance for their crimes. Finally we considered the reasons the Lord provides us for practicing hospitality: the fact that we were strangers to the family of God, and the Lord had mercy on us and took us in, loved us, and has received us into His house as sons and daughters, eating and drinking at His table.

How did God teach Israel to treat strangers? Well, first, I think we can say that they were not so much to be viewed as strangers in the land, but as guests, guests to whom our fathers owned courtesy and care, love and protection. God wanted more from Israel than just a general feeling of warmth towards strangers, more than just doing them no harm.

There were four specific areas where Israel’s love for strangers, for their guests, was to be applied: the area of law and justice, of charity, of Sabbath rest, and of feasting. God gave laws to Israel for their protection, to guide them in the way of prosperity and blessing. Those laws were to be administered equally to the native born, to the Israelite and to the stranger. “One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.” (Num. 15:16 NKJV)

In the administration of justice, again, justice was due the stranger as well as your brother. “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.’ “ (Deu. 1:16 NKJV) “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.” (Deu. 24:17 NKJV)

And finally, in the area of law and justice, the cities of refuge were to be open to the stranger as well as to the Israelite. “These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.” (Jos. 20:9 NKJV) Love the stranger, show hospitality to the stranger, treat him as a guest with equal rights under law as the native born.

Second, show him the same charity you would your brother; give him opportunity to glean from your fields: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 23:22 NKJV)

During the seventh year, the Sabbath year for the land, they were to do no formal planting or reaping. “And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,” (Lev. 25:6 NKJV)

Lending: “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.” (Lev. 25:35 NKJV) “Like a stranger. . .” The Lord God put strangers and brothers in the same class for Israel, both to be objects of care if they came into hard times and needed to borrow money. These are ways charity was to be shown to the stranger in Israel. The law of Sabbath rest also was provided the stranger.

“but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.” (Deu. 5:14 NKJV)

This is the goodness of the Lord, this day of rest, that the Lord said should be provided for the stranger, and for the foreigner who happened to be your servant as well. Again, when Israel saw the law of God as an expression of His love and care for them, they could keep it in a positive joyful sense. It was not a law to keep them from enjoying life, but to give them joy in life. Not first of all by forbidding them to work on the Sabbath, but first of all by giving them rest on the Sabbath. That rest, that privilege to be relieved of daily work, Israel was to extend to the stranger and the servant as well as to themselves. That leads to some interesting applications today, doesn’t it? Who are our servants today? Well, if you travel by air on the Sabbath, the whole array of pilots, attendants, baggage handlers, ticket agents, and others serve you. If you stay in a hotel on the Sabbath, another platoon of people serve you, are your servants. If you eat in a restaurant, another group of people serve you, are your servants. And you give to none of these rest.

But that’s our modern economy, you say. It can’t be avoided. Perhaps there is something wrong with our modern economy. If you were traveling, let’s say, through Shrewsbury, England in the year 1152, it was Saturday evening, and you needed food and shelter, what would you do? You wouldn’t find a Motel 6 or a Best western. There were no Denny’s or McDonalds. You would do what everyone did. You would perhaps approach a private home where they would put up your horses, give you a room to sleep in, and provide you with meals. Would you pay for this? Of course not. This was a ministry of the church, it was the charity, the love owed to strangers; it was philoxenia. Well, we’ve come a long way, baby, and I’m not sure it’s in the right direction.

Israel’s great and good God, the God who gave them a home flowing with milk and honey, a home structured for life, love and happiness by His wonderful laws, gave Israel the privilege of inviting guests, strangers, to share in that grace. Equal law and justice, charity, Sabbath rest, and also they were to include the stranger as a guest in their feasting.

For the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, first fruits of harvest: “You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.” (Deu. 16:11 NKJV)

For the Feast of Tabernacles: “And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.” (Deu. 16:14 NKJV)

I think this raises some interesting questions for our treatment of immigrants today, whether those immigrants are legal or illegal. I realize that the laws of Israel were given in a time when the civil and ecclesiastical realms were closely related, when the church and the state were intertwined. However, the question, perhaps still remains: Are we as a society obligated to administer these duties of equal law and justice, of charity, and Sabbath rest today? I realize the issue of illegal immigrants is a complex problem, but I would also tend to think that the whole cloud of suspicion, hostility, fear, xenophobia then, somehow runs counter to a biblical posture.

Whatever responsibility the state and society in general has in these issues, there is little doubt of our responsibilities as a church. We can and must practice these principles of fairness and equity, of making strangers objects of love and charity, of making hospitality towards strangers include the concept of Sabbath rest, of physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort, and of bringing them into our feasting, rejoicing in the goodness and plenty the Lord our God has given us.

I go to the third point, the practice of hospitality, first looking at our homes, then at the duties of hosts, the duties of guests, and the problems we may face in the pursuit of hospitality. I want us to look at our homes first, for before you bring others into your homes, perhaps we’d better look at the condition of love in your home. I want us to look at our homes firs, for it is at home where we may practice the basic skills of hospitality, for at the root of hospitality is selfless love, a giving of one’s self for another.

Do we practice courtesies at home, giving deference to one another; brothers showing all kindness and politeness to sisters, husbands to wives? Have there been people who are quite lovely to strangers, but in the privacy of their homes are rude to one another? Yes, and that is the grossest form of hypocrisy. Remember what Paul said to Timothy: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8 NKJV) And I rather prefer the Old King James translation which says, “worse than an infidel.”

As we pursue an atmosphere of love, consideration, thoughtfulness, interest in others, of striving to make others as comfortable as possible in our presence, we are training our home to be a place of warm hospitality. For remember, it is not the quality of your dinner china, nor the exotic array of your foods, nor the expense of your wines that make fine hospitality, but it is the quality of your love.

I believe there are many husbands here who every day, look forward to returning to their homes at night. They look forward to a feast for their eyes, ears, nose and palate. They look forward to a home of beauty and harmony, a place of quiet rest, where the aromas of their evening feast fill them with excitement. God bless our lovely wives and mothers.

The practice of hospitality. First question: Hospitable to whom? We learned that philoxenia means love of strangers. But we also see that Peter uses that word in 1 Peter 4:9 as our duty to one another. So we owe hospitality to family members, to friends, that is to brothers and sisters in the Lord, and to strangers.

Well, we practice the first two, but do we practice the second, hospitality to strangers, and how can we do it? First, I want you to redefine stranger somewhat. I want you to think about all the people sitting here this morning, and see if any of them are really strangers to you, people you don’t really know that well at all. I believe that the Lord wants you to do what Abraham did, and that is to go to meet them, and invite them into your home.

What are some of the duties of a host. Should I say hostess, since it would seem that wives are more involved in hospitality than husbands? The first duty is that of host, for it is the head of the house who should welcome guests, make them feel that they are really honoring his house by their presence. It is the duty of the host to make them comfortable, to make them feel, as we say, at home, that your home is their home. So, don’t just leave them standing there, show them in, give them a place to sit. Make them feel special, treat them royally, and in all your activities make them first. Show an interest in them and in their families. Instruct your children to show special honor to guests. Introduce your guests to your children if they are unknown, but whether known or unknown, each of your children should come up to your guests and greet them.

There are, of course, many practical things to be done if your guests are overnight guests, and I won’t go into them, for you wives know them much better than I do. All these preparations though are to be guided by the one great principle of love, love that thinks of all needs of another, and bends every effort to ensure complete comfort. A couple of examples of making guests comfortable: If they are to eat with you, don’t have them just wander around wondering where they should sit – sit anywhere, you say, but rather, have a seating plan. That’s much more comfortable for a guest. Another example, if you have guests visiting for the first time, and you have been blessed with an outstandingly beautiful home, be sensitive not to intimidate them with your luxury. How do you do that? Focus your attention on them, not on your house.

Husbands, perhaps you feel that you don’t play a very big role in all this. May I suggest one important role you can play? Be extravagant in the praise of your wife. She needs the assurance, the confidence that you are honored by the skill, love, and care she put into all this. Children, join the praise chorus. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.” (Prov 31:28-31 NKJV)

Finally, in the duties of hospitality let us remember the man we call the good Samaritan. Read about him in Luke 10. He found a stranger injured, ignored by those whom God had charged to care for hurt strangers, and ministered to him, making sure that proper treatment for his complete healing would be given him. Our hospitality should include the concept of hospital, sensitive to the hurts and pains of others, until our homes become a place where our guests leave feeling better than when they came, because they found sympathetic ears and hearts, and burdens shared become burdens lightened.

Guests have duties as well. Accept or decline invitations graciously and on time. How many wedding hostesses have to wonder and wonder if some people are coming because they just won’t answer the RSVP request. Be on time. Be happy and thankful. Eat what you are given. Give praise and thanks. Train your children in the courtesies of guests. It is not their home, and they do not have free run of all the rooms. Teach your children to give warm and happy thanks when they leave.

Now for a few problems connected with the pursuit of hospitality: Lack of money: We can’t afford to entertain guests with all those fancy foods and wines. A couple of things. First, don’t be envious and bitter towards those who are rich. Be content with what the Lord has given you, and use it. It is the Lord who tells you to pursue hospitality, and He doesn’t expect you to use what you don’t have. Remember, your aim is to please Him. Remember what Jesus said about the widow who put two mites into the temple treasury. What she gave, although others would say was pitifully small, was more than the many gold coins of the wealthy. Remember the essence of good hospitality is the love, kindness, consideration, thoughtfulness, that you give, not exotic foods and rare wines. “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.” (Prov. 15:17 NKJV) Hospitality is an atmosphere of love, light, rest, comfort. . .you create it, and you can do it in a tent, sitting cross legged on the ground, eating rice out of wooden dishes, and drinking water from tin cups.

Another problem: you simply don’t have the gift. Others are really good at it, but you simply don’t have it. Of course, to some the prospect of having to entertain guests fills them with terror. If the house in not right, if everything is not perfect, they are filled with fear. But what are you doing? Showing off your housekeeping or making them comfortable? Loosen up. It’s you, not your home. Our text tells us to pursue hospitality. So strive for it. Ask others who have the gift to show you some ways. This is the communion of the saints. This is sharing our gifts. Try. If we need to improve the only way to do it is to practice. So everything’s not perfect the first time. So what. We are among brothers and sisters.

Now, before we close, let’s get back to the basics. Let us learn from God’s goodness to all men. He causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust, He brings rain and good things to the righteous and the unrighteous, He love the stranger. And even though the stranger, even though the unbelieving stranger resists the grace of God, denies even the existence of God, lives in rebellion against His laws, that stranger enjoys sunshine, watermelons, million dollar homes, freeways, cool water, and martinis. Wow, does God ever treat these people well! One of the reasons He does it, of course, as Paul says in Romans 2, is to lead them to repentance.

Well, do we want the unbelieving strangers to come to repentance? Then we could scarcely do better than to imitate God. Learn from God’s goodness to all men. The basic and foundational understanding we need to practice hospitality. After all, the Lord God created the world as a home for man, and in spite of everything we see today, what a fabulous home it is.

Love all men. Listen a little bit to Cynthia Clampit: What can you do? Think of little actions you can weave into your day that will make people feel that you care. To whom can you show hospitality? Be on the lookout for people who seem overwhelmed, or left out. List some places you might run into people like this. Think of some times you have been hospitable. Thank God for opportunities He’s given you in the past to be hospitable, and maybe recognize an area of gifting that you didn’t realize was yours. Think of some new ways you can show hospitality. Remember that small things are sometimes the most welcome, and the most unexpected, especially in this day and age, when everyone is so self-absorbed. Pray that God will show you ways you can help. Ask for help in seeing ways you can show kindness.

Hospitality. It’s making strangers into guests, making people feel they matter. It is as ancient as civilization and as contemporary as a lonely heart. It is a gift, a responsibility, and a joy. Hospitality. . .the gracious art of learning to lose ourselves in the joys of others.

Finally, as we look to Christ to give us a tangible, touchable evidence that through Him, through His indwelling in you, you will be and are empowered to pursue hospitality, let me return to one of the words we studied last week. That word is one of the words related to the English “hospitality” and that is the word “host.”

The dictionary will tell you that there are three general meanings to the word “host.” It means a great number of people moving at the same time…a host. It means someone who entertains guests. And the third meaning is this, a host is consecrated bread. Specifically, the host is the consecrated bread of Holy Communion, the body of Jesus Christ. For that use of the word “host” comes from the Latin word hostia, a word that means “sacrifice.”

So what a wonderful experience of hospitality awaits you today and each Lord’s Day, with Jesus Christ Himself our Host at the table, a table prepared by His sacrifice, His hostia, and a table where He performs the most blessed duty of the host, that of giving Himself in love to His guests.

The host is Christ, and in this meal He sets the pattern for our hospitality throughout the week. The host is Christ and He gives Himself to you in love that you may give yourself in love to others.Amen.

Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

September 7, 2008

Scripture: Hebrews 13:1,2

Hospitality I – What is Philoxenia?

Among the ancient Greeks proper hospitality was of supreme importance. The respect from host to guest, the respect from guest to host, and the parting gift from host to guest, are elements that exist in the Greek concept of hospitality even to this day. The host must be gracious to the guest and provide him with food and drink and a bath, if required. It was not polite to ask questions until the guest was fully comfortable. The guest must be courteous to his host and not be a burden. The parting gift is to show the host’s honor at receiving the guest.

In Homer’s Iliad we read that Alcinous, king of the Phraeacians, outlines this concept as he reaches out in friendship to Odysseus: “A stranger and a suppliant are held as a brother by the man who is even a little in possession of his wits.” Gift giving between guests and hosts is more than politeness or custom; it is the established law of the gods.

One commentator remarked, “The Trojan war described in the Iliad of Homer actually resulted from a violation of xenia. Paris was a guest of the Spartan king Menelaus but seriously transgressed the bounds of xenia by abducting his host’s wife, Helen. Therefore the Achaeans were required by duty to Zeus to avenge this transgression, which as a violation of xenia was an insult to Zeus’s authority, resulting in the war. Of course, underlying the whole story is an undercurrent of hysterical fear of xenoi.”

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” (Heb 13:1-2 NKJV)

My subject this morning is hospitality and today I want to deal with the “what” and “why” of hospitality, not first of all as the Greeks practiced it, but as the Bible instructs us. In the next sermon I want to deal with the “how” of hospitality.

First, I want to define the words we find here, both our English words and the Greek words. Second, we will go over some of the commands the Lord gives in the Bible about hospitality. Third, we will look at some examples of hospitality, and some examples of failures. And finally, some reasons for hospitality.

Beginning with verse one of Hebrews 13 we hear these words, “Let brotherly love continue.” That is a familiar command. The apostle John spends a good deal of his time in his first epistle commanding us to love our brothers and sister. St Paul used one word for brotherly love, and that word is philadelphia. It’s one word but made up from two words, philos meaning love, adelphia meaning brother. Philadelphia, brotherly love.

In the second verse St. Paul commands us, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Again we have two words, entertain stranger, for which Paul used one word, philoxenia. Philoxenia means to love strangers. In Romans 12:13, St. Paul uses the same word when he says, “given to, or pursue, hospitality.” Hospitality, philoxenia.

The opposite of philoxenia is xenophobia, a fear of strangers. Xenos again means stranger and phobia is fear. You may be afraid of close and tight places, and that is claustrophobia. Fear of heights is alto phobia. Fear of being alone is autophobia.

Fear of strangers, xenophobia. In many societies strangers are looked upon with suspicion, with fear. Strangers are people who are different than we are, perhaps they dress strange, speak a different language, have a different color skin, and just don’t do things the way we do. Xenophobia. That fear can result in horrible atrocities, for it was xenophobia that drove the German death camps in World War II, and it is xenophobia that is so prevalent in South Africa right now, causing them to kill many foreigners.

We are commanded to have philoxenia, to love strangers. Hospitality. That English word is worthy to examine as well. It was first used in 1242 to describe a shelter for the needy. The word is related to hostel, host, and hotel. In 1418 the word hospital was used to describe a charitable institution to house and maintain the needy. Even the English word, entertain, originally meant how you made your guest feel completely comfortable in your home.

It would be fascinating to study how from the very beginnings of the New Testament church, the care of the poor, the sick, the needy, and the stranger, food, shelter, and, if needed, medical attention. Philoxenia.

That has changed of course, for the word hotel, which is closely related to hospitality has become, not an institution of charity, but a major means of making money. It is estimated that the hospitality industry is the largest employer in the world. It’s hard then to compete against Hilton and Olive Garden, but not impossible, for, if I may use the words of an old song, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Even the word philoxenia has been commercialized, for there are hundreds of hotels and restaurants, in Greece and in the United States that carry that word in their name. Hotels and restaurants are largely motivated by philarguria, the love of money. And only the saints of God can provide a hospitality that is given in love. Philoxenia. As St. John said to Gaius, “Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, for xenous, who have born witness of your love before the church.” Heb. 13:1,2: Love your brother, philadelphia. Love strangers, philoxenia. Be hospitable. Why? Because this is a command of our God. And God began in the Old Testament to instruct His people about strangers.

First of all, since love does no harm, God’s commands were in the negative, they were to love strangers by not doing them any harm. Xenophobia, fear of strangers, was to have no place among the children of Israel. “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 22:21 NKJV) “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 23:9 NKJV)

God also gave positive commands: Love the stranger, treat him as one of your own, love him like your own children, your own brothers and sisters. “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were stranger in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 19:34 NKJV)

Next week when we deal with how to show hospitality, what we should do to show our love for strangers, to practice philoxenia, which is a verb, we will find that God gave Israel many ways to show hospitality, to entertain strangers, to make them comfortable among them.

Now I want to look at some examples of philoxenia. First to see how the saints of old practiced hospitality, and then to see some glaring examples of those who were inhospitable, and the striking consequences of their inhospitality.

Our text, Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, to practice philoxenia, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Unwittingly, without knowing it, simply by practicing hospitality, by loving strangers, some have, without realizing who they were, entertained angels.

Many commentators believe that this refers to the events described in Genesis 18. There we find Abraham sitting in the door of his tent. When he sees three men in the distance walking towards him, Abraham immediately got up and ran to meet them. He was anxious to provide hospitality. For as soon as he met them, he begged them to let him serve them. “Please stay here a while,” he said, “let me get some water for your feet, so you can wash them. Rest here a while. I will get some bread for you to eat.” he then asked Sarah to make some cakes, and then went out and took a tender calf, gave it to a young man to butcher.

Then he took bread, butter, milk, and the roast calf and brought it to them. And while they were sitting down comfortable eating this little feast Abraham had prepared, he stood by them. Standing by, as it were, to be ready to meet their every need. He was the waiter, the proprietor of this house of philoxenia, and it was his pleasure to meet their every need. When they had finished, Abraham walked with them to send them safely on their way. What Abraham had done, of course, was not only serve a couple of angels, but he had the joy and privilege of serving God Himself.

“Do not forget to entertain stranger, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Lot, Abraham’s nephew was a worthy follower of his uncle in his philoxenia, for when the angels came to Sodom we read: “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.” (Gen. 19:1-3 NKJV)

Philoxenia. Love the stranger. Show him hospitality. Hospitality means philoxenia, loving the stranger. Old Job said this in his defense against the accusations of his three friends: “But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, for I have opened my doors to the traveler;” (Job 31:32 NKJV)

Look at the hospitality of the woman at Shunem, who persuaded Elisha to stop at her house and dine. She said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lamp stand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.” (2 Kings 4:9-10 NKJV). . .Hospitality

Now I want to show some examples of a terrible failure to show hospitality. First, we go back to Sodom. When the two angels entered Sodom Lot was the only one who approached them to offer hospitality. The other men of the city evidently just ignored them. But they were not content with just ignoring them. Listen: “Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” (Gen. 19:4-5 NKJV) They wanted to sexually abuse them. When Lot protested, they said, “Who are you to tell us what to do. You are a stranger here yourself.”

Now remember, not that many months earlier the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah had fought with some other kings, and lost the battle. The winners took all the people of Sodom, along with Lot, and got away. Abraham heard of it, took 318 men from his house, pursued them, and recovered everything for the men of Sodom. And this is their gratitude. Well, we know the consequence; we know what happened to these inhospitable people, these xenophobes, these haters of strangers. Fire and brimstone came down from heaven and burned them all up.

Another story. A Levite from the mountains of Ephraim traveled to Bethlehem to recover his concubine who had fled to her father. The girl’s father entertained the Levite lavishly, but finally the Levite determined to leave. As he traveled his servant suggested that they stay the night at Jerusalem, but no, said the Levite, this is a city of Canaan, these are Jebusites not of our people. Let’s go on to Gibeah. So they came to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin. It was evening, and they came to the open square of there they sat. Nobody paid any attention to them. Nobody thought, here are a couple of strangers, let’s invite them to our house.

But just then an old man came in from his work in the field. He was not a Benjamite, but from Ephraim. He asked them about themselves, and when they told him he said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.” So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.” (Jud. 19:20-21 NKJV)

Philoxenia, loving the stranger. But again the men of the city, just like the men of Sodom were perverted, surrounded the house, beat on the door, and demanded to get at these strangers to sexually abuse them. Finally the Levite sent his concubine out to them, and they gang-raped her until morning when she fell on the doorstep dead. What was the consequence of these terrible acts that began with a failure to show hospitality, that began with xenophobia instead of philoxenia? The entire tribe of Benjamin was nearly annihilated; 25,000 dead and only 600 survivors.

Another example, not of failure to love strangers, but of failure to be hospitable to an outcast. The outcast was David, who was homeless, and wandering, fleeing the persecution of Saul. He sent some of his young men to the house of Nabal, “and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. and thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ “ (1 Sam. 25:5-8 NKJV)

What was the response? “Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” (1 Sam. 25:10-11 NKJV). . .Xenophobia.

Abigail, Nabal’s wife heard of it, and showed a love to this outcast that Nabal should have done. She practiced philoxenia. What was the result for Nabal? “So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. Then it came about, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.” (1 Sam. 25:37-38 NKJV)

Finally one more example from the New Testament. Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to his house. But Simon was a Pharisee, one who thought himself better than others, and therefore did not love others as himself. Finally Jesus had to say to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ “ (Luke 7:44-48 NKJV) What is the implication here? Not only that the sins of this woman were forgiven, but also that the sins of Simon remained where they were, on him.

Now I want to set before you some of the “why” of hospitality, the reasons we should practice philoxenia. First is the fact that we were strangers ourselves and we should know how it feels to be a stranger in a land that is not ours. Listen to God speak to Israel: “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 19:34 NKJV)

Listen to God speak to the New Testament Israel, gathered from the Gentiles. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” (Eph. 2:19 NKJV) No longer strangers and foreigners. Strangers, the word is xenoi. We were strangers, but through the blood of Christ we are not just welcome guests, but have been made members of a house, a home, the house of God. We were strangers, we should know the heart of a stranger; we therefore should love the stranger.

Second, we must love stranger because God loves them. “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deut. 10:18-19 NKJV)

Third, in loving strangers we are loving Jesus Christ. In Matthew 25, that well known parable about the sheep and the goats, Jesus, as He welcomed the sheep into everlasting joy said, “I was a stranger and you took me in.” To the goats, He said, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was a stranger, and you did not take Me in.”

Pretty compelling reasons?

Fourth, these are qualifications given for those who would serve as elders. In both Timothy and Titus, St. Paul lists being hospitable as one of the characteristics elders must have. The word is philoxenos.

And finally, let us remember where we are, we are in the house of God, and Jesus Christ Himself is our host. He has ministered to all the needs of our heart, made us worthy through His blood and pains so that we can enter, not just as guests in the house of His Father, but as His own brothers and sisters, children of God, served by Jesus Christ Himself.

That brings us to this blessed table, doesn’t it? For Christ Himself is our host. That is why I, a minister of Christ, and that is why your elders, as servants of Christ, stand and serve while you sit. Christ is honoring you, His people, giving Himself to you. Let us then, departing from this house of feasting, leaving this house of God, where God Himself through His Son has washed us, fed us, made us supremely comfortable in His presence, go out as those whose delight and goal is to practice hospitality, philoxenia. Amen.

Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

Scripture: John 5

Jesus on Trial

Beloved Church of Jesus Christ, this series covers miracles from the various gospels and today from the Gospel of John. John, as you may remember from the very first verse in his gospel, presents Jesus Christ as the son of God, as God Himself. He reported, for our blessing and instruction (praise God!), the words and works of Jesus, and then what men did with them, how they reacted to Jesus, how they responded to Him. And that is the way Jesus is presented in this chapter. First Jesus performed a miracle of healing for the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, and then we see the reaction of men and how Jesus dealt with that reaction in teaching.

All the gospels, and now this one event in particular God has given to us as the revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ for our salvation. In this passage, the miracle itself is recounted in verses 1-9 only, and then the rest of the chapter records the reactions: of the healed man, of the Jews, and of Jesus response to the Jews. Because of this miracle, the Jews place Jesus on trial; they begin their accusations. That opposition, that attitude of hatred, will finally lead to the time they would crucify Him.

First, then, consider this miracle. It was the time of the feast in Jerusalem. The gospel doesn’t tell us which feast, whether Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Purim, or even, as some suggest, just the weekly feast of the Sabbath. Next, John describes the pool near the Sheep Gate, called Bethesda. Bethesda is a beautiful name. Beth. . .house, and the rest of the name means mercy, compassion, or kindness. This is the house of kindness, the place of mercy.

It is thought to have been 360 feet by 130 feet by 75 feet. In its five porches or colonnades, there was a great multitude of sick and diseased people. Since they were all waiting for a miracle, it would seem that these people had diseases that were incurable, that Bethesda was the place of last resort. Verse 4 tells us that an angel stirred the pool at certain times, and whoever, or those who went first into the pool were healed of their diseases.

I need to note that there is disagreement among biblical scholars whether or not this verse about the angel should be included in the Scriptures. Apparently this verse is not found in the oldest manuscripts of this Gospel. If we want to consider the account of this stirring up of the water by an angel reliable we are still faced with a problem. Unlike any other miracles in the Bible, there is no identifiable person mentioned as God’s agent. God, for example, wrought the miracles in Egypt through Moses. God brought the son of the widow at Zarephath to life through Elijah.

There is another explanation offered by some scholars, and that is that this pool was fed by mineral spring. Mineral springs often have therapeutic value. Perhaps there was a periodic infusion of new waters, some agitation, and so with new infusion of healings waters, those who went in first received the greatest benefit.

Among all those laying about in various stages of illness, Jesus singled out a particular man. The Bible tells us that he had an infirmity, a sickness. It was a kind of illness that kept him from getting to the pool. Was he a paralytic? Lame? Blind? We don’t know. What we do know is that he had been in that condition for thirty-eight years. Did he spend all that time at the pool? Not likely. But thirty-eight years is a long time. He had been in that condition since before Jesus was born.

Here is another significant fact: He had been unable to find healing for thirty-eight years, the same number of years Israel was condemned to wander in the wilderness. And just as it was for this man, all during their thirty-eight years in the wilderness, they had not been able to pass through the waters into the promised land of rest.

Jesus appears, the New Testament Joshua and on the day of rest, the Sabbath, leads this man into rest through His healing power. Jesus, as our text tells us, knew that he had been in that condition a long time, and asked him, “Do you want to be made well?” To which the man replies, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

What a life of frustration that man must have led. His own efforts, although he seemed to have made them many years, were useless. He simply could not make it in time. He seemed to be friendless, no one to help him down into the water. “Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.”

Let me make four observations here:

1) Out of all the sick and weary people gathered there, Jesus chose one man to heal. He could, of course, have healed them all. But He didn’t. He chose one of them. Consider your own life, you, living in a world of people sick under the death sentence brought by sin. Why did Jesus choose you to save? Do you not find this a wonder? Is this not sovereign grace?

2) Consider the command Jesus gave to this man who couldn’t walk. “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” You must know and believe, that when Jesus gives you a command, He doesn’t ask you if you have the power to obey it, but with the command Jesus provides the ability to obey Him. Isn’t that wonderful?

3) In verse 13 we read that the man didn’t even know who it was who healed him, who it was who brought him into this Sabbath rest. So the question comes to you, sitting here this morning. Do you know this Jesus who brought you into His Father’s house that you might have rest?

4) When Jesus found him, verse 14, He said, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

It would seem to be clear from this statement from Jesus, that the infirmity this man had for 38 years was the result of his sins, was in consequence of his sins, or was a punishment for his sin. Now, we know that not all illnesses are God’s direct punishment for sin. A little later John recorded that Jesus healed a blind man, and when the disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus replied, “Neither he nor his parents sinned. But this was done that God might be glorified.”

However, with this man at the pool, Jesus specifically implies that it was the consequence of his sins. It’s true, isn’t it, that the Lord often catches us in our sins, and brings bad consequences upon us for them. This is His way, and this is His way with His covenant children. Be sure, He says, your sin will find you out. This is a great blessing for every covenant child of God. God will not let us continue in sin, will not let our sin remain hidden to our eyes, but brings calamity or sickness to expose us, to make us conscious that we have left Him.

So when we cry to Him, He delivers us, and then, as He did to this man He says to us, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” God is not mocked. When we ignore, forget, or resist His mercy, His kindness, His rescue, we are inviting Him to visit us with more severity next time, perhaps even (and God forbid!) the great and fatal tragedy of just leaving us in our sins.

Let’s return to this man. When the Jews saw him carrying his bed on the Sabbath, they accused him of breaking the law, of breaking the Sabbath. You will remember that the law of God through Moses prescribed the death penalty for the breaking of the Sabbath. So the Jews put Him on trial, you might say. Was this really breaking the Sabbath? The Lord had said that they were to bear no burdens on the Sabbath. But what kind of burdens was God referring to?

I believe Nehemiah 13:15-18 will help us understand what God was talking about: “In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” (NKJV)

The kind of burdens God was talking about in His command about the Sabbath, were commercial burdens, loads of goods to sell and buy. In the days of Nehemiah the people of God were carrying on with business on the Sabbath. But the burden this man carried did not speak about earning a living, but spoke about grace, the grace and power of Jesus who freed him from the burden of that infirmity.

Well, the Jews wanted to know who told him to take up his bed and walk. So when Jesus had come to him and warned him about sinning again, he went to the Jews and told them that it was Jesus. So, now, it is Jesus the Jews go after. And here we see that Jesus provides Himself a substitute for this man. Instead of the man being on trial, Jesus is on trial. Instead of the man dealing with the accusation of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus is accused of breaking the Sabbath.

They accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath and gave two items of evidence: Offense number one: on the Sabbath Day is considered work. Offense number two: He told the healed man to take up his bed. Jesus is then accused of inciting another man to break the Sabbath Day. Jesus’ response to these accusations begins in verse 17: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

We confess that the work of creation was the work of God the Father. Yet, although He rested the seventh day, yet He continued to work, upholding, governing, preserving, the creation. He continued to be the Lord of life and death. He brought life. “For,” said Jesus in verse 21, “as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”

Again, this is the wonderful sovereign power of grace, that God has chosen you and me to receive the gift of life. “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” But now the Jews have another accusation to bring. Jesus said that God was His Father, and that meant He was making Himself equal with God. Now they have three accusations against Jesus:

1. He broke the Sabbath by healing on it.

2. He broke the Sabbath by having a man to carry his bed on the Sabbath.

3. He made Himself equal with God. Blasphemy. And you will remember that when the Jews ran out of charges at His final trial, the high priest put Him under oath, saying, “Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed.” And when Jesus said, “Yes,” the high priest tore his robes crying out, “Blasphemy!”

That will come later. But now we see these fingers pointing at Jesus, we hear these serious charges laid against Him, and it would seem that the Jews have taken Jesus and put Him on trial. Jesus, however, takes this whole courtroom scene and turns it upside down. He begins with this statement: “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (Jn 5:22-23 NKJV)

For He had given them notice before that, that just as the Father gives life to whom He will, so does the Son. The Son is God, and therefore these men are bringing accusations against God Himself. And that is a terrible and dangerous thing to do.

So Jesus tells them that the Father has given Him authority over all men to execute judgment. Then He goes on to tell of the great day of judgment – verses 28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (Jn. 5:28-29 NKJV)

Beloved, this statement confronts everyone who has witnessed the wonderful work of Christ our Lord, giving life, raising the dead, healing this man, bringing him into the promised land of rest, giving him the true meaning of Sabbath. Do you think that only these people 2000 years ago witnessed His work? Let me tell you that everyone over the last two thousand years who has read this gospel is one of those witnesses that is confronted by this miracle of Jesus.

Our keeping of the Sabbath, our celebration of the great work of Christ, our worship of the Triune God, our rest of joy and celebration in Christ, is a witness to the world of the work of the Son. Through that witness, men and women everywhere are confronted with the Christ, who will bring all men into judgment on the last day.

Now Christ brings His charges, He is the accuser, He is the judge, and these Jews, these scribes and Pharisees are in the dock, in the seat of the accused. They had sought to prosecute Him, but He is prosecuting them. What charges does He bring? All the charges Christ brings concern their relation to Him. In some sense, no sinner is merely charged with breaking some laws, but with the rejection of the person of God in Christ Jesus. They rejected Him, the Creator, the law-giver. Christ then, as prosecutor, brings witnesses to the stand, witnesses for the prosecution:

5) Moses. . .”Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (Jn. 5:45-47 NKJV)

And what are their reactions? Jesus tells us: They rejected all this testimony:

They rejected the testimony of the Father: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.” (Jn. 5:37-38 NKJV)

They rejected the testimony of John the Baptist: We read in Matthew that Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.” (Mt. 21:31-32 NKJV)

They rejected witness of the Scriptures: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (Jn. 5:39-40 NKJV)

They rejected the testimony of Moses: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (Jn 5:46-47 NKJV)

The Scriptures tell us that no one is to be condemned except at the testimony of two or three witnesses. Jesus has brought together five witnesses for the prosecution, bringing charges against them. What shall we say now? First to you and to me: Jesus has brought all these witnesses to our attention that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Son of God, that He has the power of life and death, that He has come to us that we might believe, that believing we might have life through His name.

Jesus warns us, each and every one, that the Father, that the works of Jesus recorded in the gospels, that the words of John the Baptist recorded in the gospels, that all the Scriptures, that the five books of Moses, all testify of the Son, all bring us into a relationship with the Son. So that the question is this. . .”What do you think of the Christ? What will you do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?”

We should all remember that these five witnesses that Jesus brought for the prosecution of the Pharisees, were first of all witnesses that they and we might believe, and if, we don’t, just like for the Pharisees, these will testify against us.

Second, this is our message to the world, this is our presentation to the world through the gospel. We present Jesus Christ. Not a set of morals. Not a system of laws. Not a new philosophic system. Not a new paradigm of reality. But, through the Scriptures, we must bring men and women into contact with Jesus Christ. And in that contact, let us begin perhaps with ourselves; the wonder of the Jesus who confronted us, most of us from our youth. The wonder of the Jesus, who, seeing all the many in the world equally helpless, equally hopeless, equally unable to find healing, to find life, came to us and gave us life, hope and the wonder of the Sabbath rest purchased through His body and blood.

In that contact, let us recount how by nature, we too, resist all the evidence that Christ has presented to us in the Gospels, from the Father, through John the Baptist, the Scriptures, and Moses. In that contact, let us recount that Christ substituted Himself before the great court of Almighty God, and took our place as the accused, took our place as the condemned.

In that contact, let us bring forth the testimony God has provided us, that in our contacts with the unbelieving world, they may not face just someone who is pro-life, anti-abortion, someone who condemns the homosexual, but someone who carries the Word and presence of Christ, presenting Himself to every sinner by many infallible proofs.Amen

Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

June 1, 2008

Scripture: Matthew 8:28-34

Jesus Dispossesses the Demons

This sermon continues our series on the miracles of Jesus. In the three miracles we are considering from Matthew 8, the Holy Spirit shows us a progression in the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, come to redeem us from our woes.

First, Jesus demonstrates that He has power over sicknesses, and not just any sickness, but the most incurable and loathsome disease current at that time, leprosy, the disease that ate you up, and at the same time destroyed your relations and fellowship with man and God.

Second, Jesus reveals that as the Son of God He has power over all creation, over the great storms that rose on the Sea of Galilee. During that episode Jesus gave His disciples a preview and a lesson. A preview of the storms of opposition that the world would whip up against the church, and a lesson, that just as Christ the Master of creation was in the boat, so Christ the Master of the raging nations would be with the church at all times. She but needed faith in this Jesus.

Third, Jesus’ mastery over the demons, and this is the event that has our attention this morning. My theme is Jesus Dispossesses the Demons. I use the word “dispossess” because our text says that these two men coming out of the tombs were demon possessed. I also use it because in the temptations Matthew records in chapter 4, Satan attempts to have Jesus bow down to him, promising Him all the kingdoms of the earth as a prize.

In some sense this was indeed true. Satan was the prince of the powers of darkness, the ruler of the darkness of that age. He held all nations in the thralldom of superstition and lies. He possessed the nations, although they were, we may say, eagerly waiting for the promised Seed of Abraham, for He would bring them the blessing of Abraham, that is, the covenant promise that they now, through Christ, could be freed from the slavery of the devil, and belong in glorious liberty to the Triune God.

Jesus, says our text, came to the other side. That is, He went from the west coast to the east coast of the Sea of Galilee. “There met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.”

Two demon-possessed men. Throughout the gospel we meet people who were demon possessed. There seemed to be three areas of affliction by demons. First, their possession of a person would bring physical disabilities, for example: dumbness. . .Matthew 9; blindness. . .Matthew 12; deformity. . .Luke 13. Demon possession sometimes brought mental derangement, for example insanity in Luke 8, suicidal mania in Mark 9, masochism in Mark 5. Or demon possession might bring spiritual diseases; a corruption of the truth as Peter indicates in his epistle, or as Ahab experienced through the lying spirit God sent in the mouth of the 400 prophets, occult practices, as we see in Deuteronomy 18, or just plain immorality and treachery, as we see Satan possessing the heart of Judas and the will of the chief priests who crucified the Christ.

Demon possession seems to have been common where one of the two things were true. Where people lived in the darkness of rank heathendom, and where people, although they had received the light of the truth, nevertheless, so rejected it, that God sent them a spirit of delusion, as Paul refers to it in Thessalonians, that they might believe the lie.

What shall we say of the present age? First, I think many missionaries will testify that in the dark places of the earth where tribes have lived for centuries in total ignorance of the truth, there are people who are demon possessed. Second, in what we call Western Civilization, as we more and more break covenant with God, as people regress into the darkness of loving the lie rather than the truth, because , as Paul says in Thessalonians, they took pleasure in unrighteousness, we begin to see and will see more demon possession.

There is a terrible power in demons. However, we will be wise to follow the advice of C.S. Lewis, who said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall in our thinking about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe in their existence but to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

Demons, devils, are real. The Scriptures testify to their existence and to their great power. However, what the divine Word also testifies is what John said in his epistle, that Jesus came in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus Himself said that when a strong man keeps his goods they are in safety, but when a stronger than him comes and binds the strong man, he plunders his goods. The devil is the strong man, who held so many of the Jews, and so much of the world in bondage, but Jesus is the stronger man, who came to bind Satan, and then to plunder his goods, to free those who were kept in bondage.

So, by all means, have a healthy respect for the reality and power of demons, for we are not, as the Scripture tells us, ignorant of their devices. But fear them not, rather fear God, who through Christ has placed His foot on the head of Satan, and promises that we too, will shortly have Satan under our feet. The two men of our text came out of the tombs, out of the cemetery, the caves in the hillsides outside of the city where the dead were buried. We remember that every contact with the dead made a person unclean, so this is the proper place for devils, the place of the dead, the place of uncleanness.

Our text says that these men were exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass that way. The other gospels say that men tried to bind them with chains, but they broke all the chains. We must realize that the demons hate men. They hate men because they hate God, and God made man in His own image. It is because man is in the image of God, that through defacing and destroying men, by filling them with fierce hatred towards one another, by urging them to treasure up malice, to slander, to revile each other, the demons achieve their objective of fighting against God.

“And suddenly,” says our text, “they cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with you, Jesus. You Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’ “ Strange words. . .”What have we to do with you, Jesus. You, Son of God?” These demons knew with complete certainty what the people of God didn’t seem to know yet, that this man before them was the very Son of God, and that all judgment was given into His hand. Isn’t that a sobering thought? What? That someone. . .for these demons were persons. . .that a human person too, can have no doubt but that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and yet be damned.

I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry says about these words, and about those who have the knowledge of Christ, but yet do not have real faith. He said, “It is not the knowledge but the love that distinguishes man from demons.” And then he went on to say, “He is the first-born of hell that knows Christ and yet rejects Him and will not be subject to Him and to His law.”

And we remember the words of the apostle James, who said, “You believe in God? You do well. The demons also believe and tremble.” “What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God?” Ah yes, they wanted nothing to do with Jesus, but He had everything to do with them. For in the temptations in the wilderness, Jesus resisted the devil who came to Him, here He comes to the demons, not merely to resist them, but to overpower them. And, as we see from our text, and throughout His ministry, He did overpower them.

There will be a time, beloved, whether that is sooner or later, whether that is in the next hundred years, and whether it will wait for 20,000 years, there will be a time when Satan is loosed again for a little season. And what we need to remember, and what the Holy Spirit through the gospels is telling us, is that Jesus, even in His state of humiliation, was totally sovereign over the demons, over the forces of evil. How much more so now, when all rulers, and principalities, all the powers of darkness in heavenly places, are made subject to Him. How much more so now, as He is presently reigning until all rule and authority, all powers and persons, are made subject to Him, and every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus is Lord?

We just sang it, didn’t we? And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. One little Word shall fell him. And that Word is Christ. “What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Here again we see the knowledge of the reprobate, of the demons, who knew that the Son of God would come twice into this world. The first time He would come to bring the judgment of God upon all the chosen race upon Himself, the second time, to bring judgment upon all unbelievers and demons. They knew this, and yet were terribly fearful, that Jesus had come now to cast them into the lake of fire that burns forever and ever.

So even the demons knew what so many ignorant, unbelieving, and wicked of the world deny, that there will come a day of judgment, a day of reckoning, a day when God will exact the full penalty for their wicked lives. Yet they begged, “Please, don’t say that the day has already come? Not now, please?” And so, says Calvin, “the reprobate never reckon that the time for punishing is fully come: for they would willingly delay it from day to day.” This too, is an essential element of the gospel when we bring it to others. “Do not delay. Do not say with the Roman governor, ‘Go away, when I have a more convenient time I’ll call you to come again.’ “

Now is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of the Lord’s grace and mercy. Now it is day, for the night comes soon enough when it is all over. It is given to men once to die, but after that the judgment. We perhaps should mix a little urgency into the gospel recipe we present to the world. But Jesus did not come this first time to bring final judgment on the demons nor on the wicked world. He did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. He came to usher in the great day of grace, the great age of the gospel proclamation, that through faith in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, all men might be saved from the wrath to come.

Let’s continue with the text: “Now a good way off from them were a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, ‘If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.’ And He said to them, ‘Go.’ “

Although it is not certain from the text, we may believe that there certainly were Jews involved in the raising of these swine. It was the preferred meat of the Romans, and the Jews were not adverse to making money on the Romans, even if it meant, as it did here, making it through the raising and sale of unclean animals. For pigs were unclean. Pigs ate anything.

Pigs wallowed in the mud. Even today, if someone is really messy and dirty, we call him a pig. Swine, hogs, were an abomination to the Jews, even more so since the terrible episode that sparked the rebellion of the Maccabees some 160 years before. Yet here was this great herd of swine, feeding on the hillside. “Permit us to go away into the herd of swine.” And Jesus said, “Go.”

“Permit us.” Here again is great comfort for the believer, great comfort to know that even the greatest powers conspiring for our downfall, even the demons themselves, can do nothing except with the permission of Jesus Christ. Here again is another proof that Jesus is the Son of God, is God Himself. For throughout the Old Testament it is only to God that Satan shows himself subject. You remember Satan appearing before God about Job. Satan could only deal with Job as far as God allowed him and no farther. The same permission we find in the episode of Ahab and Micaiah the prophet. Micaiah tells Ahab that he saw the Lord sitting on His throne all the host of heaven on His right hand and on His left. Then God asked the question, “Who will go up to persuade Ahab that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?” And one said this, and one said that. But at last a spirit said, “I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of His prophets.” And God said, “Go, and you will prevail.”

So when the news of the world and the news of this country, and your own personal struggles persuade you that the devil himself is in control, and there is simply no way out, go and read the book of Revelation again, a book full of demons and dragons, of fearsome beasts, of evil spirits like frogs, and know again, that the Lamb shall make war with them, and the Lamb shall overcome, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords.

“So the demons begged Him, saying, ‘If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the her of swine.’ And He said to them, ‘Go,’ So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine, and suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violent down the steep lace into the sea, perished in the water.”

We have two questions here. First, why did the demons want to go into the swine? Second, why did Jesus let them do this wanton destruction of all these pigs? Why did the demons want to go into the swine? Perhaps we can give several reasons. Swine were unclean, and demons, by their very nature are unclean, filthy, and abhorrent to God and man. Demons are agents of destruction, and if they cannot destroy man, they will, as they did to Job, destroy his possessions. But perhaps the main reason for wanting to enter into and destroy these swine, was that in doing so they would create animosity against Jesus in the citizens of that country. I say that because if this indeed was their goal, they seemed to be successful.

Why then did Jesus say, “Go?” First, we must understand that this word “Go,” is not a word of command, but a word of permission. In giving them permission, Jesus Himself was not the author of the evil done, but the demons had full responsibility.

Second, Jesus would use this destruction of their property to test the citizens of the land. What did they value more? Their pigs. . .or the restoration of two men, their release from the graveyard and demon possession, into sanity and health again. What did they love more. . .their property or the presence of Jesus?

We continue with verse 33, “Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.” And the next words in Scripture, Matthew 9:1, tells us, “So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.”

The people of that city evidently thought Christ was responsible for the destruction of their swine. Yet, the swineherds told them everything, and that meant that they knew that Jesus had freed these two men from demon-possession. These two men were no longer fierce, they were no longer uncontrollable, they no longer lived among the dead. They were clothed and in their right mind, filled with thankfulness for the grace given to them, for the liberty that now was theirs.

What should have been here? They should have come rejoicing in the freedom of these men. They should have come to praise Christ, to praise God. They should have brought their sick and demon possessed to Christ. But these people evidently preferred swine to liberty from the demons. They chose pigs before people, swine before the Savior. They loved swineherds before the good Shepherd. And in doing so they condemned themselves as swine instead of sheep.

Oh, how the pleasures of sin grip people. How hard it is to let go of the satisfaction of wallowing in the mud of sin, of malice, of self-satisfaction, of forbidden pleasures. Swine before Christ. It is so, is it not? There are so many who so much prefer earthly satisfaction, fulfillment, and success that they willingly part with Christ. “You ask too much of me, O Christ, I cannot give these things up. Go away.”

What a contrast the Hebrew believers formed, as we read in the Epistle that they joyfully endured the plundering of their goods, knowing that in heaven they had a more enduring substance. And what was that more enduring substance? They had Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, their Mediator and Priest, their sacrifice and their life.

But, if God in Christ is no longer at the center of our existence, then He gets in our way. He keeps us from friends we may like. He won’t let us cheat. He makes us love people we don’t feel like loving. He makes us do things we don’t feel like doing. He forbids us things we do feel like doing. This is the presence of Jesus among us.

But those who say to the Almighty, “Depart from us,” will soon enough hear the Almighty say to them, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” So the question is, isn’t it: Will we love the sovereign Christ more than anything in the world, or will we die hanging on to our iPod?

Jesus dispossesses the demons: Demons are real. Satan is real. His rage against God and against the saints of the Lord is real. Is demon possession increasing in this age? Will any Reformation of the church today be accompanied by an influx of devils? Is this why in the 16^th century Reformation Martin Luther wrote, “And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us?”

Yet, we will also sing with Luther, will we not, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.” Let me conclude with these verses from Revelation 12: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17 NKJV) “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Rev. 12:11 NKJV)

Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

August 17, 2008

Scripture: Luke 17:1-19

Text: Luke 17:11-19

Mercy, Healing, Thankfulness, and Faith

Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, In our passage Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to offer Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. He knew what awaited Him there, for several times He told His disciples that He would be mocked, scourged, and crucified, and then rise again the third day.

Jesus was walking along the border between Galilee and Samaria. Galilee, you remember was a few days journey north of Judea and Jerusalem, and Galilee was the home of many Jews and the scene of many of Jesus’ miracles. Samaria was the home of a mixed race of people, sent there by the Assyrian king after the destruction of Samaria and the captivity of Israel about 722 BC.

When the king of Assyria had settled various races there, lions started killing them, so they begged the king to send them someone who knew the gods of the land so they could deal with the lions. The king sent a priest, not a priest of Aaron’s line, but a priest of the line that Jeroboam had begun. So, the people of the land they served their own gods, and tried after their fashion to serve the God of Israel as well, a kind of hybrid religion. And so they continued.

When the Lord brought back the captivity of Judah around 500 BC, under the supervision of Nehemiah they set about to reconstruct the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. The Samaritans, led by Sanballat and Tobiah vigorously opposed the reconstruction, mocked them, and petitioned the king of Persia to put a halt to the work. However, the people of God prevailed, the work was completed, but the animosity between the Samaritans and the Jews continued strong until the time of Christ. No Jew would eat with a Samaritan, talk with them, and when a Samaritan approached, they would make certain to stay a long way from him.

Jesus, traveling then along the border between Samaria and Galilee came to a certain village, and there ten lepers came into view. They stood a long way from Jesus, and you know the reason for we have met with lepers before in Jesus’ ministry.

Leprosy was a dread disease, not only the physical pain and disfigurement, but particularly the social stigma attached to this disease. Through Moses God had commanded that those who had leprosy were to cover themselves, and announce when they approached anyone, “Unclean, Unclean.” They were forbidden to live with others, and were prohibited from entering the temple of God. So they were cut off from God and man. The Jews of Jesus day thought leprosy to be a mark of God’s particular displeasure with them, a mark of a very sinful person.

Well, there was nothing forbidding them from keeping company with each other, and their common misery brought them together. We see from the passage that at least one of them was a Samaritan, so this leprosy, and their common pain, disfigurement, and ostracism, even overcame the barriers of racial hatred. As sheep and wolves will walk together in peace when threatened by a forest fire, or as they will huddle together on high ground fleeing from a flood, so these common enemies huddled together under the curse of leprosy.

“There met Him ten men, who were lepers, who stood afar off.” Stood afar off. They were humbly aware that they could not come near. Yet, as we see from their cry, they knew something of Jesus, they knew of His power, they knew of His mercy. For they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” “Jesus, Lord, have mercy on us.”

For these ten lepers, Jews and at least one Samaritan, the God of Israel, even in their misery, remembered Jehovah as the God of mercy. Even if they had to stand far off from the weekly worship in the synagogues, even if they could only stand outside the walls of Jerusalem, every Sabbath they could still catch the chorus of Israel’s choral anthem, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel now say, For His mercy endures forever.” Jesus, Jehovah Savior, Lord, have mercy on us.

One commentator put it beautifully, remarking about the humility of these ten lepers, that the mercy of Christ is ready to flow into every heart that is lowly, as water flows into all low levels.

You know, when we think of ourselves in relation to someone we need and want to know better, we try to think of some point of contact. We may have a common interest in fishing, and so begin asking about the best way to catch bass. But where is the point of contact when we need God, and when we want to get intimate with Him? The point of contact is mercy. He Himself has laid down that point of contact in Jesus Christ, for, as Hebrews tells us, we come to God through Jesus, that, as Hebrews 4:16 says, “we may come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

“So when He saw them…” and we can take from this that he then approached them, and just said these few word, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” That’s it. Just those few words. Why did Jesus say this? We know from the verses that follow that as they went their way they were healed. So if they were healed, why did Jesus tell them to go to the priest?

They had to go to the priest for three reasons. First, they, (and we all need it) needed official assurance that they were clean, they were healed. The priest had to examine them, and then, as an official appointed by God, publicly pronounce that they were clean, healed of this dread disease. So, for their own assurance, for their own confidence that they were indeed freed from the disease that had so long plagued them, they needed an official act of God’s appointed priest to make the pronouncement.

Do you think that the reason so many people today still deal with feelings of guilt over past sins or omissions, and have trouble coming to the full assurance of forgiveness, is because they don’t have one of God’s officials make pronouncement over them? Think about it.

Second, they had to go to the priest, for the priest would also declare to all the people that this person was healed, and so was free to come and go among them. If he had a wife and children, he could finally go home. He could go to work again among his fellow laborers.

Third, and most important, the priest would declare that this ex-leper could now come into the assembly of God’s people in worship. God Himself, through the priest, was admitting this person into His presence again, and all the blessings from which he was formerly cut off, were his again to enjoy.

Jesus is telling us, isn’t He, that there are more dimensions to healing than just the physical. I think we may say that there are six dimensions. First, there is the personal dimension, what the person thinks of himself, is he whole again? Second, there is the other aspect of the personal dimension, what others think of him in terms of his healing. Has he really been healed? Third, there is the social dimension. Is he assured that others will accept him again? Fourth, the other aspect of that social dimension, can others say that they do accept him? Fifth, the spiritual dimension, if we may call it that, and that is this, is this person assured that God accepts him? Does he have that personal confidence that his cure has gained him admittance into the presence of God? And again, sixth, the obverse again, has God officially said that He accepts him? For you see, a person may have confidence that God accepts him, but unless that confidence is confirmed by God Himself, he will ever be uncertain. Someone may say, “I feel that God has forgiven me, and cleansed me.” But, and this is what will plague him, can he be certain that his feelings are a firm foundation for that confidence? Not really. He needs the verbal assurance from God Himself.

Are we aware of, and do we give proper recognition and practice to these dimensions in the life of the church today?

“So when he saw them, He said to them, “Go, show ourselves to the priests.” “And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.” As they went they were cleansed; their scaly skin smoothed over, the open sores closed up, the raspy voices became harmonious, the fingers and toes that had fallen off were restored again, all the spots and blotches disappeared. They were whole again, they were clean. How they must have jumped and shouted, “Hallelujah, it’s over. We’ve been released. We are free. We can go home again. No more calling out “unclean, unclean.”

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice, glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” “So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

And this introduces us to the subject of thankfulness, doesn’t it? First of all, this record shows us how often there is a great contrast between the people of God, whose lives and actions should be full of gratitude for the mercy God renews for them every morning. And yet, as we often pray, “Lord, teach us not to take all these things, these mercies for granted.”

Most of us are familiar with the words of Jeremiah in Lamentations, suffering under bitter trials, and yet saying, “It is because of your mercies that we are not consumed. Great is your faithfulness. Your mercies are renewed every morning.”

Why is it that in times of misery and woe, in times of trials and pains, in times of stress and problems that we cannot overcome, that we come so near to God? We plead with Him, we pray with tears, we groan, we cry out. “Hear me, Lord. Listen to me. Help me. Rescue me.” And that is all to the good. We honor God by coming to Him with our sorrows and problems. He has told us to cast all our cares on Him for He cares for us. “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer you,” says the Lord.

Yes, we call on Him, and we can call on Him even when we are in trouble because of our own sins and failings. Remember how often Israel cried to the Lord during the time of the judges, when they forsook the Lord and followed strange gods. He heard, He answered, and saved by His mercies. Yet, when saved, they soon forgot the Lord, and instead of thankful, obedient living, they went their own ways. Thankfulness. The Samaritan alone of the ten returned to praise God and give thanks to Jesus, Master, for showing mercy to him.

Were the other nine really cured? Yes, they were. The Lord had indeed showed mercy to them, and they received that mercy in their own bodies, and yet, we might say, they did not fully embrace that mercy, for if they did, they would have joyfully returned with this Samaritan to Jesus. Do we joyfully embrace the salvation God gives us? Not just the salvation against hellfire at the last day, but salvation from our hurts and pains, salvation from the dilemmas we find ourselves in because of sin, or because we have neglected our duties? How often have you had this experience, that you have faced a problem, that try as you may, you can’t solve it. Finally, out of desperation, you come to the Lord. Then, a couple of weeks later, the problem is resolved. It disappears. It’s not there any longer. Whoa, what happened? It went away. It’s gone. Wow. Then what? How does our thinking go? We think, well, it just went way. Really? And we forget that God acted in answer to our prayers, and we fail to give thanks to God.

Beloved, remember the words of the apostle Paul as he was writing about the vile heathen who knew not God. What did he say in Romans 1 that characterized the heathen apart from God? Romans 1:21: “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful…” Nor were thankful. Ingratitude is the great charge Paul brings against them. And us? Listen to the Psalmist, Psalm 116, the one we sang a few minutes ago: “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people.” “Now in the presence of all His people.”

Public thanksgiving, gratitude and praise expressed in corporate worship. Verse 18,19, “I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.”

How can we make this more meaningful, to bring personal, family, church thanks to the Lord? The nine were shamed by the gratitude of this one Samaritan. We remember God in adversity, but so soon forget Him in prosperity.

But what about the priests? Wouldn’t this Samaritan have had to still go to the temple and to the priests? He did. He did? Yes, however, instead of going to the Old Testament temple, he went to the New Testament temple, Jesus Christ himself. You remember that in John 2 Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking of Himself, for He was the true, the real meeting place of God and man. For He was both God and man.

He came to the temple, and he came to the priest, for the priest was Jesus Christ himself. He had that priest, and we have that priest, who today has entered the holiest for us, that we may have a strong consolation, that through His words, through His pronouncement, we are clean, personally, socially, and spiritually. Through the Word of Christ, through the body and blood of Christ, He Himself officially declares that we may consider ourselves to be children of God, saints, holy ones of the most High. He Himself declares that we are members of one another again, joined in community with all the members of the church, restored socially. He Himself declares, that as the Father has loved Him, so the Father loves us. We are accepted in the beloved.

But again, let me raise the question. How do we know all this? What is the ministry of the church and its officers for us in all this? Has this been neglected?

Let’s return to this theme of thankfulness again. This Samaritan came to Jesus, fell at his feet, and praised God, thanking the Lord Jesus for his mercies. “And He said to him, “Arise, go your way, your faith has made you well.” “Your faith has made you well.” This is a curious statement. For in our confession, the Heidelberg Catechism we ask the question: “Why do you say that you are righteous only by faith?” and we answer, “Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith…”

We have no problem accepting that as Biblical truth. And yet, and yet, the Bible so often presents us seeming contradictions, for in this statement of Jesus to the Samaritan He seems to attribute his healing to the worthiness of his faith. Well, we can believe both and still be comfortable, for this is what our God says.

There are four instances in the gospel of Luke where Jesus says this and each of the people to whom He says this are in some sense outcasts.

In Luke 7:50, Jesus said to the woman of ill-repute who had washed His feet at the home of Simon the Pharisee, “Your faith has saved you.”

In Luke 8:48, He said the same to the woman who was unclean because of the 12 year issue of blood.

In Luke 18:42 to the blind man at Jericho.

Each one, in their own way, was outcast, socially and spiritually, from man and from God. And in each case, Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well, or saved you.” Although in all cases He used the same word, which carries with it the meaning of saving, wellness, and above all wholeness. I want to comment on that later.

But now let’s look at this faith. “Your faith has made you well.”

Faith is perhaps the most precious of our possessions. We know it is a gift from God, but nevertheless, and paradoxically, God Himself treasures the exercise of that gift above all others.

Let me ask you this question: Do you aspire to have great faith? If you do, or if you now think that you should, do you realize that all the great trials and all the suffering you experience under the hand of God, are opportunities to exercise your faith, and exercise it in a way that triumphs, that wins?

Listen to what the apostle Peter says about faith, “Now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, (let me emphasize that) being much more precious than gold that perishes, it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Faith is a precious commodity, a gift from God, treasured, loved, and honored by God, now, and certainly on the great day when Jesus will appear. Will God honor your faith? Well, here is some evidence for you. Read Hebrews 11, read of all the trials and struggles of the Old Testament saints, and then ask yourself how they conquered. The answer of course is, by faith. And God has set down the list of their conquests of faith continuously in print for 2000 years that we may admire them, and be encouraged to follow that faith, precious in the sight of God.

Now let me return to a theme I mentioned earlier, and that is the added dimensions to healing and cure. Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” That word “well”, as I mentioned, means wholeness, complete restoration. Being well is life in the kingdom of God that Jesus brought, living in the expectation and reality of full deliverance.

Each of the four accounts where Jesus mentioned faith and wellness, is followed, either directly or after another related narrative, by Jesus’ conversation about the kingdom of heaven. Luke 7 the forgiveness of sins. Luke 8 the resurrection of the dead. Luke 17, the call to suffering. Luke 18 & 19, a wholeness that includes both physical healing and salvation.

The Samaritan returned to Jesus, and became one of those, like the disciples, who found in Jesus entrance into the new kingdom, for Jesus was breaking into the old and establishing the kingdom of God on earth. This story’s definition of healing includes more than just a cure for leprosy. It describes a particular sense of wholeness, one that recognizes God, who created the world and elected Israel as a player in human life, on that sees the eschatological, the final and complete saving and healing presence of God in Jesus Christ.

For the healed leper then, community, restoration to social relations with others, is not merely human intercourse, it is the church, participation in the body of those who recognize Christ as Head, the place where outcasts and aliens find a home among the disciples of Christ.

Wholeness is given not merely by therapy, but by forgiveness; it recognizes the essential incompleteness of man without the saving work of God. Cure and healing are given not only for the sake of one’s own well-being; they are gifts of a Christ and teach us that life is found as it is given away (Luke 17:33), following Christ who models a mission of one who came not to be served, but to serve.

Many definitions of holistic and traditional healing know of the need to care for the spiritual dimension of life—often however with little content and no way to test the truth or value of such spirituality. Biblical healing sees a spiritual dimension to life because it sees a human person created in the image of God. It sees that because of sin and its consequences, man needs far more than creation can offer. Biblical healing recognizes a distance between man and God, the reality of alienation between man and God, and therefore between man and man.

God’s intervention in this world is to overcome this alienation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Healing and saving, healing and mission, are intimately and integrally related. Is the church in the healing business, apart from the vocations of some of its members? Was divine healing only a reality in the time of Christ? God does mean for people to be well, and he provides for it not only through creation and human vocation, but also through the ministry of prayer and the proclamation of the renewing power of God’s Spirit in and through the gospel of Christ.

Church ministry will not so much focus ministry on human potential as on the new life given by the death and resurrection of Christ and presented in word and sacrament. Jesus does not provide healing through ecstatic experience or unlock the secrets of creation known only to Him. Jesus embodies the very presence of God, and in that presence sin, death, and the devil cannot abide.

So, let us remember mercy, gratitude, faith, and the church’s ministry to bring wholeness. And let us come to the table now, in humble faith, knowing our need for mercy, in great thankfulness for God’s great gift of his Son’s sacrifice, and in complete assurance that the work of Christ’s Spirit in us will bring us all to complete wholeness. Amen.

Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, unless you are old enough to have experienced the great shortage of food in Europe following the Second World War, you probably have never given much thought to where your next loaf of bread was coming from. Although many of us remember the vast oversupply of wheat this country had at one time, the rising price of wheat today is beginning to gain our attention, and the possibility of a shortage of b read is not so remote as it once seemed.

Throughout history bread meant the most basic commodity, the essential food for life. When famine and death stared Jacob and his sons in the face in Canaan, Jacob told his sons to go to Egypt, for he heard there was bread in Egypt.

Israel’s deliverance from Egypt 400 years later was commemorated by the feast of Passover, unleavened bread and the blood of the Lamb. And now in our passage this morning, Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now, says verse 4, the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. “Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.”

For my theme this morning, I have rephrased the question of Jesus this way, Is there enough bread in Bethlehem? I have used the name Bethlehem because that word means “House of bread,” and because Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Or, to repeat the question the children of Israel had in the desert, “Can God set a table for us in the wilderness? Can He provide bread here?”

Let me remind you again that we in this land, under the great blessing of our God, under the great reign of our King Jesus Christ, have never known a shortage of food; there has never been a day when we had no bread to put on our tables. It is good for us to realize that that may not always continue. We live in precarious times, times when the old certainties are tipping, when an inexhaustible supply of wheat to grind into flour to make bread, is simply not there any more. Is our Lord bringing us, or will He bring our children into a time where the prayer He taught us will take on new and pressing urgency: Give us this day our daily bread.

“Give us bread and circuses?” “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Jesus asked this question knowing the answer, but asked it to test His disciples. And the first thing the disciples thought about was money. That’s a natural reaction, isn’t it? For if you have enough money, the question of bread is answered, isn’t it?

Philip said, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” For Philip the question was not whether money could provide bread or not, but the question was whether they had enough money. But, does money answer the question, really? Does money make bread? Come with me to a place where perhaps most of the money in the world seems to be concentrated right now. Where is that? Let’s just say that it is concentrated in Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates. Have you ever seen the money being spent in Dubai? How much bread is that money producing? Nothing. Those countries are completely non-productive. If the great wheat producing countries of the world, the United States, Canada, Australia, and perhaps the Ukraine, did not grow a surplus of wheat, the Middle East, those rich Arab countries would starve, for all their money.

Is there enough bread in Bethlehem? Let’s go back to our father Adam in the Garden of Eden and ask the question, is there enough food here? What answer did Adam give? His answer was “No,” there is not enough food here, we need to eat of the tree that God has forbidden us to eat of. Because Adam gave that answer, God pronounced a curse upon him and said, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground.” Man would gain bread, his daily bread, by painful toil, living under curse. Yet the promise of God was that the curse would be lifted. Bread would come by promise not by labor. Bread would come by grace and not by earning. Bread would come by the Word of God, not by the word and power of man.

A lesson long in learning. Esau came in from hunting and needed bread. How would he get it? How would God provide for Esau? Esau was the first-born, and as the first-born he inherited the promises. What promises? The promises God made to Abraham and Isaac, the promises that He would be his God and the God of his children. The promise that he would inherit the land. The promise that God would multiply his seed as the stars of heaven. The promise of life. Esau weighed those promises over against his need, or what he perceived was his need, and sold those promises for bread.

Israel in the wilderness. No bread. What shall we do for bread in the wilderness? We are hungry. Why did you bring us out here to kill us with hunger? We remember that in Egypt we ate bread to the full, we could eat as much as we wanted. (Ex. 16:3)

Of course, they forgot that they were slaves, people under the curse, slaving away to earn their bread. But here they were in the wilderness, there was no bread, and they were hungry. Why did God let them become hungry? God told them why. “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” (De. 8:3 NKJV)

“Man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” For the mouth of the Lord had spoken, “I will give you manna from heaven, your daily bread.” So Psalm 78 commemorates that by saying, “Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?” therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation. Yet He had given them of the bread of heaven. Men at angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.” (Ps 78:19-25 NKJV)

We, the children of God, are to live by promise, by grace, by the Word of the Lord. And when the Lord sees that we need to understand that more vividly, when He sees that we only have an abstract theoretical knowledge of what it means to live by grace, to live by faith in the Word of God, He may indeed send us a famine of bread. Are you prepared for that? Have you prepared your children for that? Is there enough bread in Bethlehem?

What is the answer to a shortage of bread? More money? What was the answer in the time of Elijah when God sent a famine upon Israel? Do you remember the story of Elijah and the widow? Elijah had marched into the throne room of Ahab and declared that there would be no rain or dew these years until Elijah said so. He then marched out. God struck the land with a famine. No bread. What could Elijah do? God told him to go to the brook Cherith where the ravens would feed him. So he went there, drank water from the brook, and the ravens brought him his bread every day.

When the brook dried up, God told Elijah to go to Sidon, for God had prepared a widow there to give him his bread. So he went there, and when he came to Zarepath, a little village in the region of Sidon, he met the widow. Not a rich widow. Not a widow with lands and fields, with houses and banquets. No. . .a poor widow with one little son, gathering sticks. “Give me some water to drink,” said Elijah, “and while you’re at it, give me some bread.”

“Alas,” said the woman, “I have but enough flour to make one loaf of bread. I am gathering enough sticks to make a fire to bake that one loaf for me and my son, and then we shall die.” “But,” said Elijah, “give me bread first. For here is the word of the Lord, your flour shall not fail until God brings rain on the land again.”

And so it was, that the flour did not fail. It was always there for the next loaf of bread. But, life is more than bread, for life is by the Word of the Lord. So the little lad became sick, and finally died. The poor widow, in her anguish, said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to bring my sins upon me?” So Elijah went up to the little dead boy, raised him to life again, and presented him to his mother, who then said, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” And this, beloved is the answer, isn’t it? This is the foolishness of God that is wiser than man. This is the great promise of the Gospel that says, “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which does not profit.”

Jesus had lived out that promise, hadn’t He? You remember that following His baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And after forty days without food, the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” Could Jesus have done that? Of course He could, He was the Son of God. By Him all things were created, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

But Jesus answered the devil by quoting from Deuteronomy 8:13, “It is written,” said Jesus, “Man shall not live by bread only, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus came to fulfill the Word of the Lord. Jesus came to offer Himself as the bread of life for His people. Jesus came to say, “Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will die.”

“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” said Philip. Andrew said, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.”“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” said Philip. Andrew said, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.”

It’s good to remember that the total number was much larger, for other gospel writers say that there were five thousand men, besides women and children. How many would that be altogether? One might say at least fifteen thousand.

Well, there was one lad anyway. But what were five loaves and two small fish going to do for them all? Nothing. What would have been better, at least in our thinking, that someone would stand up and say, “Lord, I have 156,000 denarii, and that will buy more than enough bread for everybody.” But, just as with Elijah, the Lord would choose one with the least, one whose supply in the eyes of man would provide nothing except a joke. Five loaves and two small fish for 15,000 people? Get real.

What could a poor widow offer? How could God use the gift of this poor widow? Well, she had faith, didn’t she? For instead of saying that Elijah could eat after she had finished, she first gave to him. What could this lad offer? Not much. But what he did have, Jesus used, Jesus multiplied.

Now I think there is much we can learn here. We can certainly learn that it is not the size of what we offer to the Lord that counts, but our willingness to give the all that we have, even if that all is so small. Sometimes we moan and groan that we have so little to offer to the Lord. We can’t put that much in the offering for missions. We don’t have much ability. We’re not very good at visiting people. We’re kind of shy when it comes to talking about the gospel to others. There’s not much we can do to help others.

What God wants you to do is to place the little that you have in the hands of Jesus your Lord and Savior, and let Him use it. For really, the Lord is not that much interested for you to wait until you have gained enough money to make what you would consider a great impact. The Lord is not interested for you to wait until you have developed your skills to the point where you are recognized as a great leader or speaker. The Lord wants the little you have right now, for it is His great delight to create strength out of weakness, to make much out of little.

And so it was with these five loaves and two small fish. “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to the disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.” Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.” Yes, did they truly believe that? The prophet? The one who brought the Word of the Lord? Later, as we read from verse 26, Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who come to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” And that, beloved, is the point of this miracle, isn’t it? That Jesus came into the world to labor by the sweat of His face, to labor until His sweat was like great drops of blood, to labor under the curse that said, “Adam, in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the dust. For dust you are and unto dust you shall return.” But Jesus came to become a curse for us, that

He might fill us with His blessing, with Himself, offered for us, broken for us, poured out for us. Jesus came that the Word might become flesh, and that we, receiving that Word, might have life in Him.

Is there enough bread in Bethlehem? Is the Word of God enough? The Word that created life, the Word that redeemed our lives from the curse, the Word that created the bread that sustains life? “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give to you.”

Beloved people of God. There is a presidential election coming up. The issue, it seems, is no longer Iraq, but the issue is the economy. And when it is said that the issue is economy, it finally boils down to saying that the issue is bread. To whom shall we go for bread? To whom shall we direct people for bread?

At the end of this chapter, after Jesus had spoken many words relating to the issue of bread, after He had directed all those words to find meaning in Himself, in His body and blood, He said this: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” From that time, says verse 66, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And there it is. There may very well come a time, a time that the Lord Jesus

Himself will bring to this land, when there is a shortage of bread. There may come the day when there is a famine in the land. And where shall we go? Can the Lord set a table in the wilderness? Oh yes, the Lord can set a table in the wilderness. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Beloved, there are severe famines in many parts of the world right now. What shall we do? Shall we export American democracy? Shall we export free market economy? Shall we get the world bank to forgive their country’s debts? Shall we give them wheat? We have been doing all these things for fifty-sixty years. What we need is a renewed export of the gospel, the gospel that through the Word and Spirit of Christ creates churches, churches where the living Word of Christ is proclaimed, churches where a table is set, a table of bread and wine, of strength and joy.

Beloved, let us rejoice that the Lord Jesus still provides us bread for our tables every day, produced by the miracle, not the miracle of American agricultural technology, but by the miracle of the few people who began to settle this country with faith in the Word of God. No, not them, but the miracle of Jesus Christ, who, according to promise, has tamed flooding rivers, and turned the deserts of this land into gardens of God. Yes, Christ still gives us bread for our tables. But when that bread is gone, when He brings a famine, when He lets us go hungry, will we then remember, that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Will we and our children still rejoice in the God of our salvation, who will faithfully serve us the living Word of Christ, and who will set a table before us every first day of the week, a table in the presence of our enemies, a table of bread and of wine?

Amen.