2 Corinthians 5:17: Turning the Page, a New Creation

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 01 Jan. 2012

By Captain Michael Ramsay

New Years is often the time when we look back on the year and there are often quizzes to see how much we remember of the significant events that occurred in the world, our country and our community. In that spirit here is a New Years Day Quiz for you.

EVENTS IN OUR WORLD (answers below)[1]

1)      A tsunami swept through this country?

2)      What did these two cities have in common in 2011: London and Vancouver?

3)      Who is the new General of the Salvation Army in 2011?

EVENTS IN OUR COUNTRY

1)      Who is famous for the following quote from last year? “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

2)      Famous Wedding this past year where the honeymooners visited Canada?

3)      Who won the Grey Cup in 2011?

EVENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY

1)      Which bank was robbed here on January 7/11?

2)      Who won this riding (Swift Current) in the provincial election?

3)      What member of this congregation spoke her first words and took her first steps this year?

Baby is still doing a lot of firsts. She just had her second Christmas this year. There is a lot to look forward to for our little one. The Scripture that we are looking at today, 2 Corinthians 5:17, says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

As well as quizzes, New Years Day is the time when many people make resolutions: where we promise to make changes, to do something new. People decide to turn a new page, turn over a new leaf and make a new start. Because of this, Susan suggested that today we look at 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” I think this is something worth considering on a day like today when many people are considering new starts; when we are turning the page on a new calendar year. So let’s take a look at this verse in the context of 2 Corinthians here.[2]

We know who wrote this letter, 2 Corinthians, right? The Apostle Paul. Who did he write it to? The Corinthians. This is one of two of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians that we have in our Bibles. Scholars think that he wrote at least four, maybe more. He probably wrote this 20 or so years after Christ rose from the grave. Now, do we know where Corinth is? It is in Greece and Grecian Corinth was an important city in the Roman Empire of the first century. Paul is writing this letter to a congregation probably about the same size as the group of folks we have gathered today and presumably they are all saints. They are all Christians to whom Paul is writing. This letter addresses a number of different things: the joy Paul feels for their response to an earlier letter, the troubles he has suffered, why he has had to change his travel plans; he is also asking them to forgive another, telling them not to be yoked with unbelievers, and explaining the joys that come from suffering for the Gospel, teaching about grace, dealing with opposition in the church, and telling them to get ready for his arrival in Corinth. It is not as focused as some of his epistles; Paul really does chat about quite a few different things in this letter to the Corinthians.

In this letter, in our verse for today, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” “Therefore if anyone is in Christ…”: This phrase refers to anyone who is a Christian or as the New Testament more commonly refers to us, saints. We know what a saint is, right? The Greek word ‘saint’ in our Bibles is derived from the same word as ‘holiness’. In the New Testament ‘saint’, simply put, just means ‘Christian’.[3] A Christian saint is contrasted with a ‘sinner’. So in the apostolic letters in the New Testament there really are just two choices in this regard. You can be either a Christian saint or you can be a sinner.[4] As Paul’s letter reads ‘if anyone is in Christ’ it is saying that for all of us saints, for all of us Christians, we are a new creation – the old is gone, the new has come for all of us! This is exciting. When we hand our lives over to the Lord, it is like a changing of the guard; a new, fresh set of eyes now guards the prize. It is like those New Year’s pictures we see with the old year being ushered out as the new baby year comes marching in, full of energy and a big smile on his face. Paul is saying, like with the changing of the page on the calendar when the year is renewed; so when we each turn the page on our life, giving it to Christ, we are holy (cf. Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16).[5] We are renewed (cf. Isaiah 42:9, 43:19-20).[6] The old has gone. The new has come.

This is good news. At New Years we often make resolutions to turn over a new leaf, to do something different and something new. How long, stereotypically, do these resolution usually last in our contemporary Canadian culture? Not very long… The Apostle Paul is telling these Christians who are reading and listening to his letter and he is telling us as well that we don’t need to abandon our new life in Christ like others might abandon a hasty New Years resolution. Paul says, much to the contrary, that we have died to sin and we are now alive in Christ (cf. Romans 6:1,11; 8:10; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). He is speaking to Christians here and he is encouraging us to keep on, keeping on. And He is not just speaking in global, nebulous terms. He is telling us specifically how our lives should be different now that we have turned the page to our new life in Christ. Let us look back a bit in this letter to the Corinthians to see how our lives looked Before Christ and compare them to what they look like now, Anno Domini, in the years of our Lord. I think it will serve us well to look through this letter to see exactly what Paul means by this new creation versus that old creation.

If we turn back to Chapter 4, we can see what he is talking about. The Apostle Paul talks about how we have changed. Paul says of the old self, 2 Corinthians 4:2: “Rather, we have renounced [those] secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul says that our old selves were selfish. Our old selves used deception and distorted the word of God. This is interesting because as our country, moves further and further away from our salvation, I have noticed this same thing appear here quite a bit – honesty seems to be a sad casualty of the secular evolution of our nation. In the week after Christmas here I read a couple of articles on the CBC website and in the Globe and Mail, talking about the Pope and the Queen’s Christmas messages and about how the Third World has been turning to Christ en mass. One article in the Globe and Mail by Margaret Went asks,[7]

“What’s the fastest-growing religion in the world today? It’s Christianity. You can be excused if you guessed wrong. For the past decade, the Western world’s attention has been transfixed by Islam. But in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, it’s Christianity that’s on the march. Today, Christianity claims 2.18 billion believers – a third of the world’s population. By 2050, Christians will outnumber Muslims 3 to 1.”

Praise the Lord for, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

But there is a sad note: you should of read the hatred towards everything Christian that people wrote in the comment section underneath this article about the worldwide growth of our faith. I have come to expect a certain level of anti-Christianity from CBC message boards but I was floored by how much hatred and prejudice there is against Christians and the Bible in the Globe and Mail as well. I even reported as hate speech a few of those comments that the Globe and Mail and CBC moderators allowed. It was that bad. People are misquoting the Bible and blaming Christ and Christians seemingly for every conceivable evil in the world – and they were doing this during the Christmas season in articles about Christians and Christianity. The Apostle Paul tells us 2000 years in advance of this that this is what people do. This is what people -who are not saints living out their salvation- do. Paul says that before we were saved, we deceived and we distorted the truth to make our point. That is what some of those commentators were doing.

Paul says, that prior to turning the page to the new creation, we are blinded by the god of this age. That is the devil and this is how the devil works. He blinds people to the abundant truth of God’s through all kinds of deception. Just open the news headlines in any given western country’s papers in any given year in the 21^st Century. How many scandals are there, involving the elected leaders of the world, our country and various provinces? We have a political system with which the devil feels right at home. It all boils down to a popularity contest every few years. I will tell you how much this old creation dishonesty and deceitfulness has become: we, Canadians, have become so used to our leaders deceiving us and distorting the truth that less and less people are even bothering to vote – why bother if people are just lying to us? It is not only in our leaders that we see the old creation represented in North America today. We also see this on TV. I am shocked by the kind of deception and shameful ways that are extolled by our media and entertainment industries. This all filters down to our individual lives to and then back up into our society as a whole. I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard people justifying a ‘white lie’: cheating on our taxes, not declaring our income, or lying about our age: young people trying to be older; elders appearing to be younger. Deception has grasped our society as the god of this age, 2 Corinthians 4:4, has blinded the non-believing heart. This is what old creation is like without reconciliation with God and without Christian renewal.

The Apostle Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Paul says that we can turn the page on all this as we are made anew, like the year is made anew.[8] This is important – being a new creation. We, the New Year, the new creation, as we are reconciled with Christ, we are completely differently from the old.[9] Paul writes, 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”  This is cause for happiness because we are the fragrance of life for some and this is cause for sadness because we are the smell of death to others. Some people really hate Christians. Some people really hate Christ and that is becoming a viewpoint that is more the norm than the exception in our country in this century and this is sad. Even sadder still, I think, is the fact that this ‘old creation deception’ that we have been talking about can even be seen in the churches. Actions consistent with the old creation can be seen in the churches where the new creation is supposed to be flourishing. How many of us have heard people complaining and planting seeds of discontent? How many of us have ever been tempted to act like life Before Christ instead of living Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord? How many of us have been tempted to keep on sinning, and thus like the author of the sermon to the Hebrews says, trample on the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:29)? We don’t need to do this: Paul encourages us that God wants is to be reconciled to us all. God wants us all to experience His new creation. “… it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (TSA doc. 10) Christ died on the cross and rose again from the grave so that we can die to sin and rise again to salvation.  So let us do that. Let us turn the page on the old creation and in this New Year let us instead experience all the joys of the New Creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, for “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

In a couple of months, we are going to start a sermon series here looking at the Salvation Army doctrines. I am going to do my best to try and find some good speakers and big name people to share with us their thoughts and feelings on the doctrines. I ran across this holiness test from O&R posted on www.armybarmy.com this week. I think it is a good one for us to try to answer ourselves to see if we are taking full advantage of the holiness of salvation that is available to us all.

TEST FOR SELF-EXAMINATION: ORDERS AND REGULATIONS FOR SOLDIERS.

1. Am I habitually guilty of any known sin? Do I practise or allow myself in any thought, word, or deed, which I know to be wrong?

2. Am I so the master of my bodily appetites as to have no condemnation? Do I allow myself in any indulgence that is injurious to my holiness, growth in knowledge, obedience, and usefulness?

3. Are my thoughts and feelings such that I should not be ashamed to hear them published before God?

4. Does the influence of the world cause me to act, feel, or say things that are unlike Christ?

5. Do my tempers cause me to act, or feel or say things that I see afterward are contrary to that love which I ought to bear always to those about me?

6. Am I doing all in my power for the salvation of sinners? Do I feel concern about their danger and pray and work for their salvation as if they were my children?

7. Am I fulfilling the vows I have made to God in my acts of consecration or at the Penitent Form?

8. Is my example in harmony with my profession?

9. Am I conscious of any pride or haughtiness in my manner or bearing?

10. Do I conform to the fashions and customs of this world or do I show that I despise them?

11. Am I in danger of being carried away with worldly desires to be rich or admired?

Let us pray.

www.sheepapek.com

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[1] WORLD: 1) Japan, 2) Riots, 3) General Linda Bond; COUNTRY: 1) Dr. Jack Layton, 2) The Royals William and Kate, 3) BC Lions; COMMUNITY: 1) BMO, 2) Hon. Brad Wall, 3) Heather and Cecilia

[2] Philip E. Hughes, ‘2 Corinthians Introduction’, 1803, in NIB Study Bible. Edited by Kenneth L. Barker, Grad Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan, 2002.

[3] W.E. Vine. . 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 555.

[4] Cf. John D.W. Watts. 'Holy.' In Holman Bible Dictionary, general editor Trent C. Butler. Nashville, Tennesee: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 660. W.E. Vine. 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 555.

[5] Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Peter 1:16 (Leviticus 19:2): God says, “…be holy because I am holy”, presented to the Swift Current Corps (13 February 2011). Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/02/1-peter-116-lev-192-god-says-be-holy.html

[6] J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 94.

[7] Margaret Wente, 'God's far from dead in the global South' in the Globe and Mail, Dec 29, 2011 3:19PM EST. Available on-line: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/margaret-wente/

[8] Cf. N.T. Wright, On Becoming the Righteousness of God: 2 Corinthians 5:21 (Originally published in Pauline Theology, Volume II, ed. D. M. Hay: Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis,1993, 200–208. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Available on-line: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Becoming_Righteousness.pdf

[9] Cf. Rev. Dr. Leslie Milton, ‘14^th March 4^th in Lent – Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32 (11); 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32’, in The Expository Times: Journal of Biblical Studies, Theology and Ministry, (Vol. 121: No. 5: Feb, 2010), pp. 241-242.

Luke 2:1-20: A Tale of Two Kings

Presented to Swift Current Corps and community on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2011&12 by Captain Michael Ramsay

A Christmas 2016 variation can be found here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/12/luke-21-with-christ-or-augustus.html 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”: this is the famous opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens; it is about Paris and it is about London. Today’s story from Scripture is a real life tale of two kings by Luke the physician; it is about Augustus Caesar and it is about Jesus Christ and in Luke’s Gospel, like in Dickens’ story, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times.[1]

The second chapter of Luke’s Gospel opens with, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” Caesar Augustus is the first king of our two kings, chronologically speaking, that we will address today.[2] What do we know of this king and of this world that he has ordered taxed?

Caesar Augustus was the Roman king and the world was certainly a Roman world that he ordered to be taxed. Prominent New Testament scholar and historian N.T. Wright, writes:

In the Mediterranean world …the fastest growing religion was the Imperial cult, the worship of [the king, Augustus] Caesar.

In Rome itself, …being hailed as the son of the newly deified Julius was an important part of [Caesar] Augustus’ profile, and that of his successors, at home as well as abroad.  But in the East [including Judea] …the provinces saw no need for restraint. With a long tradition of ruler-cults going back at least to Alexander the Great, local cities and provinces were in many cases only too happy to demonstrate their loyalty to the emperor by establishing a cult in his honour, and in need by vying for the privilege of looking after his shrine.[3]

In our tale of two kings today, the first king here mentioned, Augustus Caesar, leader of Rome, the paramount Superpower in the first Century, when Jesus lived; he is worshipped as a god. Augustus Caesar, this alleged god-king, who rules the most powerful country in the world; this alleged god-king is seen as a son of god, in that his deceased adopted father Julius Caesar is also revered as a god; this ‘god-king’, ‘son of god’ has an interesting biography. This is the tale of Caesar Augustus. [4]

Augustus Caesar

Caesar Augustus is born Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 BCE. He takes the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian) in 44 BCE after the murder of his great uncle, Julius Caesar, who was the Roman ruler at the time. In his will, Julius Caesar had adopted Octavian thus making him his heir to the helm of the Roman world.

Octavian is a shrewd, brilliant and astute politician; he is able to achieve ultimate power in Rome. At the time of his uncle’s assassination, Octavian /Augustus – like Deng Xiaoping, centuries later in China, during the Tiananmen Square incident –held no official position. However, shortly afterwards, he, with his armies, march on Rome, forcing the senate to name him consul, thus showing to the world that indeed he is a power to be reckoned with.

Augustus, then, along with Marc Antony and another Roman General (Marcus Lepidus) begins to rule the Roman world. After taking power, they slaughter thousands of political enemies. Antony later marries Cleopatra and wages war against Augustus.  The Roman Navy under Herod Agrippa defeats Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE and within a year they both famously commit suicide.

Following this Rome officially bestowed upon Octavian/Augustus the name ‘Augustus’, which means ‘the exalted.’ The politicians also gave him the legal power to rule every aspect of the whole Roman Empire all to himself. Through wars, murder and intrigue, Caesar Augustus becomes Rome’s ultimate Emperor, bringing stability to the realm.

Rome achieves its glory under Augustus. After 100 years of civil war, he becomes the prince of peace; no one dares challenge Caesar Augustus. His empire expands as his armies conquer Spain, Gaul (now France), Panonia and Dalmatia (now parts of Hungary and Croatia), Egypt and most of southwestern Europe.

Caesar Augustus rules with an iron-fist. He is worshipped as a god and as a son of a god; by destroying his enemies in war he even ironically becomes known as the prince of the ‘Pax Romana’, the Roman peace. When the Gospel of Luke that we read from today was recorded, Augustus was known as a god, a son of god and a prince of peace. Luke then tells of our other king, the real king.

Jesus Christ

Jesus truly is God, the Son of God, and the Prince of Peace. Notice how different the real King of Kings is from Caesar Augustus or any other king or any leader of any superpower either past or present. Luke, in invoking Caesar Augustus’ name and this taxation is drawing this parallel and making this contrast for all of us to see.

Luke and all his readers know very much what we have just said about Augustus Caesar. They know his story. That is their life and times. In our passage today Luke is intentionally showing us that Jesus, Jesus’ mother and adoptive father are very different from Augustus Caesar and his adoptive father. Rather than conquering an Empire by force, Joseph and Mary travel by foot to another city in order to pay their taxes to this aforementioned Caesar Augustus.  In so doing it is ironic that Augustus Caesar is pretending to be what their child, who is about to come into the world, really is: the Son of God and the Prince of Peace (Luke 2:4).[5]

When Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem to pay their taxes, the city is full. Imagine the buzz of activity with people everywhere coming to be registered. The buzz of activity: with everyone going to a specific location to register, it reminds me sort of hamper day. It is not feasible for us to deliver hampers to everyone’s home in the community so they need to come to us. It is not feasible for the Romans to go to every house in their empire to register them for the census; so the people needed to come to central locations.[6] On hamper day we have people everywhere: between volunteers, staff, and those in need coming to pick up their hampers. I imagine this buzz of activity of hundreds of people around here on hamper day to be a microcosm of what it was like in Bethlehem two centuries ago. As busy as it was here it was even busier there as the busyness filled the whole city.

I can’t quite remember what the situation was like here when we had the women’s world curling championships last year but I do know what it was like in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics. I had friends of mine tell me repeatedly how landlords would evict tenants so they could rent out their rooms at much higher rates than they would ordinarily get. Hotel rooms were filled during the Olympics. People who lived in Vancouver were even going on vacation somewhere else during the Olympics and renting out their homes for enough money to pay for their entire vacation. The city was full. There was no room anywhere. If you didn’t have relatives or reservations and you wanted to stay in Vancouver during the Olympics you would have to be resourceful – even the shelters were full.

It is the same in Bethlehem. Anyone and everyone descended from the iconic figure King David of Judah, was descending upon this small city.[7] There was no room in the inns. This was the environment when this other king of the Jews, the real king of the Jews, the real Son of God, and the real God incarnate comes into the world – a little different from the life of Caesar Augustus, who is mentioned at the beginning of our text today and of whom the same claims of kingship and god’s sonship are made.

Jesus’ mother, Mary, gives birth in the only room available and makes her baby as comfortable as possible, wrapping him snugly in pieces of cloth and placing him in a feeding trough, in a manger packed with straw.

It is at this point in the narrative then that Luke begins to draw a real distinction between our two kings in our tale today: Augustus Caesar, who some uphold to be a god, a son of a god, and the Prince of the Roman Peace and Christ Jesus who really is God, the Son of God, and the Prince of Peace. Whereas the king Augustus Caesar had his power acknowledged by the powerful politicians of his day through war, murder, and intrigue. Christ Jesus’ kingship is heralded through angels to working class shepherds who were working the night shift.[8]

Luke 2: 8-14:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

These working class shepherds, who are working that night, are invited by God’s messengers to come and see His new born Son, born to parents who are here to pay their taxes to the leader of the temporal superpower of their day: who is ironically enough an impostor pretending to be the son of a god.  These shepherds listen to God and go to Bethlehem and are blessed to see the birth of God’s truly only begotten son who will grow up to save the whole world.

Luke 2:19-20: “…Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

Thus our tale of two kings concludes with the same question before us today as was before the shepherds and the readers of Luke’s gospel in the first century. Which of the two kings will we serve? Will we serve Caesar or Christ? Will we serve the rulers of our current time and place in history – Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings, … – and their empires and systems – the English-speaking empire, capitalism, democracy, consumerism, imperialism, or whatever else… - or will we serve the only real Son of God who lived and died and rose again so that we can all rise again and live forever in His Kingdom to come if we so choose. On this Christmas Day two centuries closer to the return of our King, the choice is ours and I encourage us all to serve our Lord, who is returning anytime now. I invite us all today, in recognition and in a pledge of allegiance to Jesus who truly is the King of Kings; I invite us all to sing alongside the angels of two centuries ago, as it is recorded in Luke 2:14 where they sing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Please stand with me and sing “Gloria in Execelis Deo” which, of course, in English means, “Glory to God in the highest.”

Let us pray[9]:

Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to His people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
Almighty God and Father,
we worship You, we give You thanks,
we praise You for Your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ,
only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
You take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
You are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For You alone are the Holy One,
You alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of the Father.
Amen.

Benediction: Let us go forth on this Christmas Day forever serving the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen.

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[1] Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 63 for a good discussion of the comparison made here by Luke.

[2] Cf. Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/II. Birth and Childhood Narratives (1:5-2:52)/B. Birth Narratives (1:57-2:20)/3. The birth of Jesus (2:1-7), Book Version: 4.0.2

[3]N.T. Wright, 'Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans', originally published in A Royal Priesthood: The Use of the Bible Ethically and Politically, ed. C. Bartholemew, 2002, Carlisle: Paternoster, 173–193. Reproduced by permission of the author. Available on-line at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Caesar_Romans.htm

[4] For more information on Augustus, cf. Will Durant, The Story of Civilisation III: Caesar and Christ. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1944. See also Lucid Café Library On-line: http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95sep/augustus.html

[5] Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 63

[6] Cf. Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 3), S. 99. See also A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (Hodder and Stoughton, 1927), p. 271. Deissmann says that Luke uses official ‘departmental language’ in reporting the order (ibid., p. 270, n. 5).

[7] But cf. Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 63

[8] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox, 1990), 35. Re: the comparison between royal heralds of good news.

[9] ‘A Catholic Prayer: Glory to God’, available on-line: http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=785

Luke 1:26-37: Do You Believe?

Presented to the Nipawin Corps 24 December 2008
and the Swift Current Care Centre (abridged), 17 December 2011
and the Swift Current Corps, 24 December 2011
by Captain Michael Ramsay

 
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/luke-126-37-do-you-believe.html

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24: The 7 P’s and the Pi of Holiness

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 11 Dec 2011
and to the Nipawin Corps 14 Dec. 2008
By Captain Michael Ramsay
  
To read the 2008 version chick here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/1-thessalonians-516-22-23-7-ps-and-pi.html

    

I don’t know if you have ever seen those motivational speakers on TV or in person. I’ve had some jobs in the past where they send someone in to rally the troops. They usually have – in the old days flip charts – these days PPT or DVD, lots of props and some way that they want you to remember what it is they are trying to motivate you to do. Sometimes it is just repetition.

One thing that people often use is an acronym – you spell out a word and every letter stands for something else. Here I’ll give you some famous acronyms and you tell me if you know what they mean:

1)      ASAP     2) NATO   3) NHL    4) MYOB    5) TSA[1]

Sometimes they just have an alliterative list with each item in the cue staring with the same letter or the same sound, like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, or here’s another little quiz for you can you tell me:

1)      In Four H, what are the 4 H’s?[2]

2)      What are the 3 R’s from school?

a.      How many of these words actually start with R?

b.      Who can tell me which word that is?[3]

Paul in our scripture passage uses some of these very techniques and in this pericope that we are looking at today Paul gives us the 7 Ps (Pi’s) of being holy or blameless in preparation for Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:23).[4] In Greek, the language in which Paul writes this letter to the Thessalonians, each of these phrases begins with the Greek letter ‘Pi’, which is roughly the equivalent of the English letter ‘P’. Now Paul knows that Jesus may come back at any moment and so he comes up with this way for us to remember how to be blameless, how to be holy in preparation for this event.

The First P is ‘Rejoice Always’ – In Greek it starts with a P – or a Pi anyway (the Greek equivalent of our P). So the first P, or piece of Pi, is ‘Rejoice Always’.

P 1 = Rejoice Always

Rejoice Always (Thessalonians 5:16, 18; cf. Deuteronomy12: 7,18; 1 Chronicles 16:10, 31; Psalm 40:16; Luke 10:20; John 16:22; Romans 5:1-5; Philippians 4:4; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 1:26, 4:13). Not about everything but in all circumstances, Paul says. This is important. This is because of the faith that we have that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27). We know that the war is already won (1 Corinthians 15; 1 John 5:4). Nothing that happens here on earth, in our lives, can change the Salvation that has already been provided through our Lord. Nothing: the only question is whether we will take advantage of it, whether we will experience it or not!

I think of a particular Salvation Army funeral a couple of years ago: when Major Neil Voice received his promotion to glory I heard that indeed his memorial service was a real celebration with a full brass band and everything! His funeral was a celebration of the fact that he served God well in his life and now he gets to continue doing so for eternity with the Lord. This celebration did not take away at all from the legitimate grief and appropriate laments from those who love him but this kind of celebration is a great example of the hope that we all have in Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:16). In The Salvation Army we do refer to one’s passing as a ‘promotion to Glory’ and promotions are good things, aren’t they?  Christ died and rose again so that we all can live for now and forever, if we so choose to accept his invitation; indeed this is something to be joyful about (John 10:10; John 15:15).

 I think of my cousin who was also promoted to glory a couple of years ago now – she was my age. She left many loving friends and family members behind, including two very young children but I understand that neither her faith nor the faith of her husband wavered at all. Difficult things happen[5] but we know that in the end everything will be okay for those who love the Lord; so indeed we can always celebrate that joy of our salvation, even as we lament, even as we mourn, even as we are sad, we can still rejoice (2 Corinthians 6:10) because God is good and God has provided our salvation for us all. It is there for whomever of us wishes to accept it. So the first P, the first Pi is Rejoice always.

P2 = Pray without ceasing:

The second P (or Pi) is Pray without ceasing: Unlike Pi #1, ‘Pray without ceasing’ actually starts with a ‘p’ in English, Now we know that our salvation comes from the Lord. We know that He is indeed looking out for us and so we pray continuously and we do give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:17; cf. Acts 12:7; Romans 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:3).

We know that we are in a spiritual battle. We know that we fight not as much against flesh and blood as we do against powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12ff; cf. Romans 8:38; 1 Peter 3:22). We know that there is opposition to the gospel. We know that even though the gospel is good news, we know that there are people who hate the truth and we know that there are people who hate the tellers of the truth. John refers to many of these people as antichrists (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 2:1-7; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:22). There are people who have left the faith; there are people who ignore what is obvious and there are people who will attack us instead. Because the devil, antichrists, and more and more people, and more and more things in this world seem to attack us, our beliefs, and our God – because we are constantly under attack, we need to keep in constant communications with God and that is what prayer is – communication with God.

When soldiers are in the heat of battle: when bombs are going off, when planes are coming in from a distance, and they cannot tell friend from foe and they cannot see what is even coming at them – what do they need? They need good communication with the base. They need good communication with one who can see the battlefield and this is what prayer is – it is keeping in touch with God; it is following Jesus into battle. If we fail to pray, if we forget to pray, we are like the soldier who stumbles blindly out of the trenches knowing neither at whom he is shooting nor who is shooting at him. This soldier cannot survive for long and – even though the war is already won – people are still perishing and we cannot survive for long without the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 15:2, Ephesians 2:8, 1 Peter 1).[6] We need the Lord’s guidance, we need the Lord’s strength, and the Lord’s sacrifice so that indeed we can all live – and for this, we should be constantly giving thanks.

P3 = Give thanks in all circumstances

That brings us to the third piece of our holiness pi, our third P = Give Thanks in all circumstances (Thessalonians 5:16, 18; cf. Deuteronomy 12:7,18; 1 Chronicles 16:10, 31; Psalm 40:16; Luke 10:20; John 16:22; Romans 5:1-5; Philippians 4:4; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 1:26, 4:13).

This attitude of thanksgiving is so important. The Lord loves us. Now, like we said about our saved loved ones who pass on, we are not thankful by any means that they are gone but we do know that they have moved on to something better – no more sickness, no more death, no more tears (Revelation 21:4) and we do know that even though we miss our loved ones – God will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5). He will not give us more than we can bear. God loves us (John 3:16-17; 5; 15; 1 John 4). He loves all of us and He manages to work together even the most unpleasant situations somehow, someway for His Kingdom purposes, and because of this we can indeed be thankful in all circumstances.

To review the holiness Ps, the pi’s we have so far, are:

P1 = Rejoice always

P2 = Pray without ceasing

P3 = Give thanks in all circumstances

This brings us to our next pi:

P4 = Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19; cf.1 Thessalonians 1:5,6,7)

Now, apparently when Paul was writing this letter, there were some ‘wakkos’ predicting the time and the day of the end of the world (cf. Mark 13:32-33) and there were ‘weirdos’ who would perform faked healings, false prophecies, etc. There were these snake-oil salesmen of sorts.[7] And some of these folks were leading people astray and some of these people with their false predictions just plain looked plain silly and they did so for no easily discernable heavenly purpose. Some things never change! There is a difference between being a fool for the gospel and just plain being a fool.[8] Now Paul knew this and Paul knew that in reaction to these people, some people could go too far in the other direction.

I was raised in the Canadian Baptist tradition – the Lord taught me a lot and I have a great respect for the many Christians who earnestly serve the Lord there. It has been said that the only time a Canadian Baptist raises his hand in church is to ask permission to go to the bathroom. (This joke probably represents the extreme!) I went to a church service once and I remember someone who was visiting asking if it had charismatic style worship at all; the response was, “The Holy Spirit showed up just the other night in an evening service but - don’t worry – the pastor asked him to leave.” I have certainly been in more than one service like this (in churches of different denominations) that indeed when the Spirit does show up, people don’t know what to do – and this is what Paul is telling us about with the fourth P. He is saying don’t quench the Spirit. So what are the Ps and our Pi’s so far?

P1 = Rejoice always

P2 = Pray without ceasing

P3 = Give thanks in all circumstances

P4 = Do not quench the Spirit

That brings us to our fifth holiness Pi of preparation, P5, which builds on P4 very nicely. We have to be careful not to quench the spirit and we have to make sure that we do not despise the words of the prophets.

P5 = Do not despise the words of the prophets

Like we said: there are many false prophets out there. We spoke two weeks ago about these people who are endlessly predicting the time and date for the end of times even when the Bible tells us not to do so (Mark 13:32-33).[9] There are all these false prophets out there and prophets who make mistakes as well – and, as shown by the fellow from California who predicted a couple of end of the world dates for this year (2011) that have already come and gone - the media loves these guys because they can use them to make Christians, to make us all, look like a bunch of liars and a bunch of fools. The truth is, that yes, as John says, there are many antichrists pretending to know what they do not know. There are many false prophets tickling our ears for the purpose of financial gain or to lead us astray but indeed Paul says, there are real prophets – and we should not despise their words. And this brings us to our next holiness point of preparation for Christ’s return.

P6 = But test everything, hold onto what is good

This is one of the most important things (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21). This is one of the primary reasons that we are given the Bible as it is, I imagine; so that indeed we can and we will test things and see what is right and see what is wrong. We must be like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-15). Paul applauds them – the Christians in the first century town of Berea – for this very thing. They do not accept what the Apostle Paul is telling them simply because he is telling it to them; they put his words to the test. They search the scriptures; we need to search the scriptures. It is very important. Smart people sometimes make mistakes. Good people sometimes make mistakes and when we hear someone utter what we think may be a mistake we need to look it up in the Bible. We need to pray about it. We need to then approach them about it – because if they are wrong, they need to change and if we are wrong, we need to change and either way as we are smart enough to test what is good and what is evil, we will indeed grow – provided we try to, P (Pi) 7, Abstain from every form of evil.

P7 = Abstain from every form of evil.

Doctrine 10 of The Salvation Army reads: "We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Our text today says, abstain from every form of evil: This is holiness (Cf. TSA doc. 10). God tells us to be holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). God tells us to be blameless (1 Thessalonians 5:23). God tells us to be perfect (2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12). John Wesley argued that this involves more than just avoiding vices. He says, quoting an heathen Epicurean poet, in a sermon entitled, ‘The Almost Christian’ that “Good men avoid sin from the love of virtue. Wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment.”[10] Avoiding evil and avoiding it because of a legitimate love of God is very important. It is very important and the opposite of what some people suggest: that we all sin all the time. We know that this is not true because if we did sin all the time, God would never tell us to be holy just as He is holy and He would never tell us to be even perfect and he would never tell us to be blameless as Paul records in Verse 23 of our text today – but He does. God doesn’t set people up for failure. He is a loving God. He would never ask from us that which is impossible. After all with God all things are possible, and in Verses 23 and 24, He tells us how it is indeed possible to be perfect even as God is perfect. He says He will do it. God himself will sanctify us through and through, keeping us blameless until the return of Christ. So this is exciting. We don’t need to sin. We don’t need to return to bad habits. We can rely on God, He will lead us through the 7 P’s (Pi’s) of holiness in each one of our lives and indeed He will make us holy, as He is holy.

So then as we prepare to meet Christ very soon, as we celebrate his coming 2000 years ago in a manger and as we look forward to his return anytime now. Let us turn to God and in the process let us make sure that we are prepared. Let us give P’s a chance. Let us not have any Pi missing as we present our lives holy unto God as a living sacrifice, trusting that He will preserve us blameless until the coming of the end of the age.

Let us pray.

 

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[1] 1) As soon as possible 2) North Atlantic Treaty Organization 3) National Hockey League 4) Mind your own business 5) The Salvation Army.

[2] Head, heart, hands, and health

[3] Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic: Only ‘Reading’ begins with the letter ‘R’

[4] Beverly Roberts Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians (Interpretation: Grand Loisville, Kentucky, USA: John Knox Press, 1998), 84.

[5] Rober L. Thomas. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Pradis CD-ROM:1 3. Responsibilities to oneself (5:16-18), Book Version: 4.0.2: ‘A final member of this triplet for personal development is "Give thanks in all circumstances." No combination of happenings can be termed "bad" for a Christian because of God's constant superintendence (Rom 8:28). We need to recognize that seeming aggravations are but a temporary part of a larger plan for our spiritual well-being. Out of this perspective we can always discern a cause for thanks.’

[6] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay. “Romans 13:11-14: Victory: The Final Whistle” Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/12/victory-final-whistle-romans-1311-14.html

[7] Beverly Roberts Gaventa, 84. Cf. Also. Captain Michael Ramsay, Mark 13: 24-37: Hope for a Happy New Year: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mark-1332-37-hope-for-happy-new-year.html

[8] But cf. Mark Chapman, “Mark 1:1-8,” The Expository Times, Volume 120, number 2, ed. Paul Foster, John Riches, Karen Wenell, (London: 2008): 79-80.

[9] Captain Michael Ramsay, Mark 13: 24-37: Hope for a Happy New Year: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mark-1332-37-hope-for-happy-new-year.html

[10] John Wesley, “The Almost Christian.” Cited from Outler & Heitzenrater 1991,67.