Sussex
Genesis 3:8-11
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the
garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And the Lord was walking
through Hove early one morning and he saw
friends gathered for breakfast. He entered the room and called out…
“Where are you?”
So, where are you this
morning?
Now despite having spent
five years as an Apprentice Jockey I am not a gambling man. However I think it
would be certain bet that in answering that question you may refer to 1 John
2.28.
‘And now, dear children, continue in him, so that
when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.’
I would think that each
and every one of you here this morning has put on Christ.
However, here is what I
want to leave with you as I prepare to move to Stafford
at the end of the year.
Can I bring into your frame of reference Lazarus and his
being brought back from death by Jesus as recounted in John 11.
Remember how Jesus called
Lazarus out by name from the stink and stench of the grave. How on emerging
Jesus said, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go”
It is surely safe to
assume that other clothes were quickly brought for Lazarus.
But here is the thing I
find and I can only assume it is much the same for you.
I stand there; I know I
have been called out of the stink and stench of death, from the sin that so
closely bound, called out from a path to perdition. I responded to that call on
the 1st January 1975.
I know I have been clothed
in a robes of righteousness and the filthy grave clothes have been removed – I
know all of that and yet, and yet little by little, step by step I find I am
creeping back towards the tomb.
Living in the light
dressed as a Christian is no easy task and no easy calling.
Just how do you remain in
the world and yet be not of the world?
How do you live by God’s
standards and not appear as some holier than thou religious bigot?
So we find ourselves
little by little putting back on the fashions of the world, the ways of the
world around, the ‘normal’ things in our surrounding culture that squeezes us
into its mould.
Of course it perfectly
okay for couples to live together before they get married, it makes economic
sense and beside everybody does that these days.
Well of course it’s okay
to be creative with your tax affairs, and who is going to find out anyway and
besides they get enough off us anyway.
Going over the speed limit
– well only a little and everybody does it. It is not good to get caught
though, that would be a bad witness!
Saying OMG – well that’s
very popular and it trips of the tongue so easy. I know we are not to take the
Lord God’s name in vain – but really, what harm can it do.
However, even the most
cursory glance at Scripture will tell us we are called to be holy because God
is holy.
We walk along a holy path
– not towards a holy path. Holiness then isn’t so much something to be achieved
as a way to be lived
This walking on a holy
path however doesn’t begin with our feet (although check out Psalm 1.1) in begins
in our minds, in the place of our secret thoughts and in our desires.
Remember that the thought
is father to the deed.
We read in Romans 12.2 –
Don’t let the world around you squeeze
you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that
you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his
demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
But we are squeezed and
often succumb and find little by little, step by step, inch by inch we creep
back to the tomb and start wrapping ourselves once more in grave clothes.
How then can we learn once
again to discern the sweet scent of heaven from the stench of hell, to have our
minds renewed and to walk along a holy road?
September begins a new
academic year.
Can I encourage us all to
endeavour to take upon ourselves some form of study.
We are called to be
disciples and as disciples we need training, regular training and retraining. Perhaps
sign up for a Course, or read some more, anything to help you in your walk as a
holy disciple of Jesus. (I can highly
recommend Tom Wright’s ‘Everyone’ series on the New Testament.)
I would also like to
suggest that each and every one of us finds a Spiritual Director or a Soul
Friend or a Companion. Someone who can challenge us, someone if I may put it
this way, would smell us out when we meet.
For this world, the
country, this city needs, desperately needs the sweet, sweet smell of heaven –
the aroma of Christ.
So, let me ask you this.
God is here – his presence
is with us, Scriptures tells us this and we believe it to be so.
Can I invite you to stand
if you want to walk away from the tomb?
Can I invite you to stand
if you want to have those fashions of the world, the grave clothes
removed?
Can I invite you stand if
you are willing to say; here I am Lord, totally available to you. I surrender all;
I want to live only for you. ‘For if Christ is not Lord of all then he is not
Lord at all.’
Can I invite you stand if
you are willing to go back to school – to engage in some study, to see how we
can deepen our faith. To learn of what is happening across the word, to try and
understand the ways of the world so that we can speak the Word of God in due
season and bring salt, light and love into the darkness.
As we stand I am going to
invite you to bless the person next to you and I want to give a brief
explanation of what it we are doing.
(What we are not doing is
praying for them)
We are proclaiming over
them well words that will bring about all that God would have for them to
become.
So pray for them by name,
wait just a moment because the Spirit may have a very particular blessing he
wishes to impart.
If there is no prompting
of the Sprit then you may simple wish to pray the Aaronic Blessing over them…
“The Lord bless you and protect you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.’’
The Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace.’’
If
you can’t remember that then simply pray a blessing in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
I
will bring us back together by playing some music.
‘Jesus, all for Jesus’
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