I Samuel 1:25-27: Dedication to the Lord.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army 03 Mar 2013

by Captain Michael Ramsay

To read a more in-depth version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2012/09/1-samuel-1-re-dedication.html

In returning this child into your care, I charge you to care for her in the name of the Lord, and keep the promises that you have made concerning her.

At this time I will take a few moments to explain for us gathered today the full implications of this wonderful event.

Remember what we read from the Bible, where the prophet Samuel was dedicated by his parents to the Lord, well this is actually based on quite an extreme situation. It is even quite extreme for today’s world.

You see, Hanna, Samuel’s mother, has been praying for a child for a long time. Now this is significant and that the Lord answered this prayer is wonderful and I have heard testimonies from others about how the LORD has blessed parents after many years of prayer with a child. There are many people who have not been able to have children and then when they have almost given up the Lord miraculously provides. This is the grace and wonder of God, of course, but there is even more to the story of the baby Samuel here.

Hanna and Elkanah - Samuel’s parents to be- they loved each other very much and they really wanted to have a child and, for the record, having a child was even more important to families 3000 years ago in Israel, when this story takes place, than it even is today. And that relates to, among other things, one’s retirement. In those days there were no senior’s cruises, no senior’s discounts at the stores, no old age pensions, no RRSPs, and no retirement homes; really if you did not have someone to look after you in your twilight years, then you were alone and you were hungry and you may not even survive. Having a child really was your retirement plan. He was your life savings and Hanna and Elkana had no child.

Because one’s life depended this much on having a child and because, even though they were hoping and praying for a child, they were unable to have a child, Hanna and Elkanah decided he should have a second wife – Peninnah.[1]  (cf. the actions of Sarai, Gen 16:2; Rachel, 30:3; and Leah, 30:9).

Now this did solve the problem of getting a child but - as you can well imagine - one husband with two wives brought its own problems with it. Particularly since Hanna, who loves her husband very much, is now not only without a child but now has to deal with another woman and her husband’s children all in the SAME house. Can you imagine? Sounds like it could be a reality TV show or something.

So then with all this turmoil going on and the other woman and the other woman’s kids all living in the same house, Elkana, in the full perception of a modern TV husband, comes up to his wife and says, you look sad. Is there anything wrong? Can you imagine?

It is in this state. It is in this time that Hanna goes to the church[2] and she is truly begging and pleading with God. She promises the LORD, “please, if you give me a son, I will give him back to you to serve you all the days of his life.”

And He does. And she does. God blesses Hanna with Samuel and she offers the child to the Lord to serve Him forever. This is a true story and Elkana and Hanna have many more children after that and Samuel, the baby, grows up serving God, and actually becomes the last pre-king ruler of Israel. That’s pretty good.

This story as extreme as it is has some things in common actually with what we are doing today. Today, as God has given them this wonderful son, mother and father are offering their son up to the LORD. Mom and dad are here are making some promises to God that are every bit as significant as Hanna and Elkana’s.

We are thankful for the Lord’s provision just as Hanna and Elkhana were. Today Shauna and James have pledged to raise their son in a Christian home so that as Kaiden grows up, he will come to know the Lord. Now there are many trials and temptations that children face in this world today but there is also the miraculous salvation from these temptations that only the Lord can provide.

So it is to this end then  – salvation – that we are gathered here today, in the presence of God, as these parents have dedicated their child to the Lord. And it really is an honour that each of us here are present to be a part of this very significant day.

Let us pray: Dear God, thank you for all that you have done in our lives. Thank you for this new life and the eagerness of his mom and dad to promise to raise their son to serve you. We pray that they will always rely on you and that all those present today, as we are led, will continue in prayer, upholding this family in the promises they have made today.

Thank-you. Amen.

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[1] Ronald F Youngblood in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: The birth and dedication of Samuel (1:1-28)

[2] To Shilo actually to make a sacrifice unto the Lord. The Temple, of course, was not build yet. This was the location of the Ark of the covenant and the priests for some time in Israel’s history. Cf. Ronald F Youngblood in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: The birth and dedication of Samuel (1:1-28)

Revelation 3:7-13: Vs. Philadelphia

Presented Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 17 Feb 2013, 
by Captain Michael Ramsay
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I was at a prayer meeting earlier this week and the leader shared this story out of a devotional book that is often insightful and inspiring. He read:
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A retired gentleman from around here calls his adult son in Philadelphia one autumn day and says, “Your mom and I are getting a divorce. This has been fifty plus years of pure aggravation and I am done with it!”
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“What? Dad, you can’t!” replies the son.
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“I’ve had it and I am so upset. You just call your sister and tell her. I don’t walk to talk about it anymore. I am done with this.”
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The son calls his sister and he tell her everything that dad has just shared with him. She says, “They can’t do that! Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it right away.”
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She calls her dad, “Dad”, she says, “Don’t do anything hasty. My brother and I are both on the next flight from Philadelphia here to come there and talk to you and Mom. Don’t do anything until we get there.”
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Dad hangs up the phone and looks at his wife and says, “The kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and they are even paying for their own plane tickets…but what are we going to do about Christmas.”
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That little story was about a phone call to Philadelphia in the present day United States. Today’s pericope is about a letter to a different Philadelphia at a different time.
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This Philadelphia in the letter, as opposed to the one in the story, does anyone know where this Philadelphia is? This one isn’t in the US. This Philadelphia is near Ephesus. Last week I asked you where Ephesus is. Does anyone remember? It is in the Roman province of Asia, which is what present-day country? Turkey.
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Now this letter that is going to [the angel of the church of] Philadelphia is the sixth of seven letters mentioned to different churches in Asia here in the book of Revelation.
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Philadelphia is an interesting city. Philadelphia was founded c.140 BCE. It was know as  the gateway [or the open door] to the East. It was named after its founder, Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and was was founded with the intention for it to be a centre of missionary activity for the Hellenistic (Greek) culture into Asia.^[1]

Philadelphia at the time of the writing of this letter is an important city in the Roman Empire and at various times has even had new names bestowed upon it to honour the Roman Emperor.[2] This area around Philadelphia is actually not unlike Vancouver Island or even California of our world today in that it is relatively prosperous compared to other regions of the empire, it is known for wine and grapes, and the area is somewhat prone to earthquakes and even volcanic activity. There was the great earthquake of 17 CE that, like the 1906 CE San Francisco earthquake and fire, did destroy most of the city. As a result the surrounding area was known as ‘the burnt land’ and a lot of the people lived in a bit of fear of the next big earthquake.[3] Philadelphia is an important city. It is a prosperous city but the population lives in a bit of fear of the next ‘big one’ that might hit.

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This is the city to which ‘John the Revelator’ is commanded in Verse 7 to write the letter we are looking at today. Now this letter is one of seven such letters that John was instructed to write to various Roman cities in the same province of Asia. These seven letters written to the various churches all have some basic features in common: each letter is addressed to an angel (even though John was asked specifically in 1:11 to address them to the churches); each letter mentions the city to which it is addressed; each one follows a prophetic messenger formula; each one contains a Christological ascription; followed by praise and a promise or blame and a threat; each one then has a call to obedience; and each one has an eschatological promise for the victors.[4]

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Some of the recipients of these seven letters fair better than others: Some good things are said about six of the seven churches (Revelation 2:2, 10, 13, 19; 3:4, 10). Some bad things are said about five or six of the seven churches but there is actually nothing bad said about the church in Philadelphia. They are a group – like our group here today, I presume.

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The church in Philadelphia is small and apparently weak but it is doing well: they are holding up well under pressure. This is quite something when we consider that most of the books in the New Testament letters written to address a variety of concerns in the various churches. This letter within a letter in Revelation 3 doesn’t mention any problems with those attending the church. They are doing quite well at following the Lord.

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Now when people are doing well at following the Lord, how does the Enemy feel about this? When we are faithfully bringing people to salvation so that they have somewhere to turn as their life falls apart, when we are faithfully bringing people to the comfort and protection of God, when we are faithfully pointing people to Jesus who is the one who can grant joy in the midst of suffering, when we are faithfully allowing His Spirit to lead others to His shelter in the middle of the storm, how does the Enemy feel about this?

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I know from personal experience when things are starting to go well as we are serving the Lord for his kingdom, that is when the Enemy attacks. He knows where we are weak and that is where he strikes. He is like a schoolyard bully. Along those lines I have some comics to share by Bill Waterson. Everyone here is familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, right? Calvin is a six-year-old boy and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger. Calvin is weak and, like the church of Philadelphia, he runs into some problems with bullying.

In much the same way that Moe is bullying Calvin here, the 1^st Century Broad Street bullies of Philadelphia are picking on the church in their city. The Christian church in Philadelphia is quite small. It is in a large and prosperous Greek city in the Roman Empire whose citizens’ predominately worship traditional Greco-Roman idols and there is this other bully that is picking on them. This other bully is actually a group of bullies know as, in Verse 9, the ‘Synagogue of Satan’.
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Now the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ isn’t a street gang like the ‘Indian Posse’. It isn’t a motorcycle club like the ‘Hell’s Angel’s’. ‘Synagogue of Satan’ isn’t even a name that they give to themselves. It is more like an insult or a derogatory epitaph, like when a former US president lumped together three of his presumed adversaries as ‘the axis of evil’ – there never was any such ‘axis’, those countries weren’t even traditional allies; it was just a way of pointing out that the US doesn’t like those countries and to watch out because the Americans are reserving the right to invade and conquer them. It was a way to delineate, as that same president said, who is with us and who is against us. This is the same thing with the ‘Synagogue of Satan’.
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By ‘Synagogue of Satan’, Verse 9, John means, people “who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars.” This we need to know a little bit about. We know that God created the whole world (Genesis 1-2). We know that as early as Genesis 12:3, God promises that the whole world will be blessed (by Jesus) through Abraham. We know that all of history points to Jesus as the Christ. The people of Israel know this as much as anyone but when Jesus actually comes the people of Israel are divided. Some accept Jesus as Lord – these are the people that today we call ‘Christians’.  Most of the New Testament refers to Christians as ‘Saints’ and John in his letter here calls them the ‘true Jews’ or the ‘real Jews’ because they are the ones who embrace the Jewish Messiah. These real Jews, Saints, the Christians are the ones who acknowledge that God has done and is doing what God promised to do all along and they are the ones who choose to experience His joy in the midst of the real tribulations of this world, like those in the church in Philadelphia.
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When Jesus came, the real Jews, the Saints, the Christians, they set aside a lot of their old traditional cultural ways such as animal sacrifices, and worship at the temple, and various dietary laws because that was what they were doing in order to get ready for Jesus’ arrival; now that he has come they no longer need those things. Like this week, we set up the tables for the Lenten lunches on Thursday; Sylvia organized it. She got together all the plates and cutlery, and Stephen physically cleaned and arranged the tables and chairs in the gym and we put out tablecloths and organized the corps here to accommodate the luncheon. Now when the lunch was over, we didn’t leave the tables set out in our gymnasium with all the plates and cutlery upon them; we didn’t leave the corps like that. We have floor hockey with the youth on Fridays and basketball with the RCMP on Wednesdays among other outreaches so leaving everything set up for a lunch that has already happened is not only pointless but it gets in the way of real, practical, everyday ministry. That is the same with the old Israelite traditions; so, as Jesus has already come it is pointless to follow all of those Old Testament procedures, they are fulfilled now. The lunch is complete; it is time to put that stuff away. This is what the real Jews, the Saints, the Christians, realized.
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This next part is important. The ‘Synagogue of Satan’, the people who people “who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars” – they actually realized this too. Today, nobody follows the traditions of the old Israelite religion. They can’t because Jesus has already come and rose again. The lunch has already been served. You can’t eat it again. It is finish. The ‘Synagogue of Satan’ of the 1^st Century and the Jews of today no longer practice the old Israelite traditions either.
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Today we might call the spiritual descendents of this ‘Synagogue of Satan’, ‘practitioners of the Jewish faith’ –well, I wouldn’t actually recommend that you call someone of the Jewish faith a member of the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ – that might not go over so well. Some of the reasons that John uses this harsh epitaph for them probably relate to how those Jews treated the real Jews, the Saints, the Christians at the time of the writing this letter in the decades after the resurrection of Jesus and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Remember that they were all Israelites at first:  both the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ Jews and the real Jews who are the Saints and the Christians. After Jesus rose from the grave and the ancient Israelite religion was fulfilled in Christ, the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ rebelled against this and at a meeting in the city of Jamnia they chose their own canon of Scripture and formulated their own new religion, which today we call Judaism. It was based upon, among other things, the so-called Eighteen Benedictions.[5] I am going to read some of what this early document of Judaism says about the real Jews, the Saints, the Christians. This is what it says about Christians:

For apostates let there be no hope, and the kingdom of insolence mayest thou uproot speedily in our days: and let Christians and the heretics perish in a moment, let them be blotted out of the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous.[6]

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You can see now a little bit about why the Christians might not be so happy with this new group who is openly attacking them in this way. You can understand why in these early days John might refer to these Eighteen Benedictions Jews as the ‘Synagogue of Satan’. And there is more. The ‘Synagogue of Satan’ is persecuting the real Jews who are the Saints and the Christians.[7] They are making life miserable for them – even more miserable than the 20^th Century’s ‘Broad Street Bullies’ or Moe, Calvin’s schoolyard bully. The Christians are being persecuted and the Christians are suffering but in Philadelphia of the first century they are holding strong. And so God gives them this encouragement, Verse 8: “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” And Verse 11, “ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
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Jesus is telling them that no matter how bad life gets, even as the Empire may eventually throw you to the Lions, even as your own countrymen turn their backs on you, even as those whom you love reject you and even if they pray with the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ that your name be blotted out of the book of life, everything will be okay.
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That is the main message of this whole book of Revelation, by the way: no matter what horrible and difficult things happen in this world, God says as long as you turn to Him it will be okay.
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The church in Philadelphia persevered and God saved the whole city through them and thanks to the Lord, Philadelphia actually became one of the last great bastions of Christianity to fall before the Ottoman Empire. They persevered and God protected them. God protected them and they persevered. It is the same with us today. As life gets difficult – which it will; as life has hard times – which it will; as our hearts grow heavy with sorrow – which they will; as tears well up in our eyes - as they will; as loved ones pass on - which they will; as the worries of our lives weigh down upon us – which they will; we can still persevere and we can still be encouraged that indeed, like the ancient Christian inhabitants of Philadelphia we can make it.

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Jesus warns us that difficult times, like those recorded in Revelation are coming.  Luke 21:18-19 records, “But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.” Jesus promises, Hebrews 10:36, that we will receive what he has promised and we can stand strong and we can persevere and Jesus promises that, as Matthew 6 records, if we seek Him we will find Him.

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So I encourage us today that no matter what problems are facing you, no matter how many questions, fears, or doubts are in our minds, no matter how challenging life gets, as we turn to God, it will all be okay. Jesus promises, Verse 8: “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” and Verse 11, “ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
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Let us pray.
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www.sheepspeak.com

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^[1] Leon Morris, Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1987 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 20), S. 80

[2] William M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia (London: Hodder & Stoughton,:1904), 398.

[3] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Commentary: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 156.

[4] cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Revelation 3:20: Hello, is anybody in there? Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army (30 August 2009). Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/08/revelation-320-hello-is-anybody-in.html?m=1

[5] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Commentary: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 156.

[6] William Horbury, ‘The Benediction of the Minim and early Jewish-Christian Controversy,’ JTS, n.s. 33.1 (1982): 20.

[7] Cf. Craig K. Koester, ‘Revelation’s Visionary Challenge to Ordinary Empire,’ Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, ‘Revelation as a Critique of Empire, Vol. 63 no 1, (January 2009): 7.

3 John 11: Be from God; Do Good

Presented to Swift Current Corps 10 Feb 2013. Based on a sermon presented on 15 May 2011. By Captain Michael Ramsay

Late one night, a burglar breaks into a house that he thinks is empty. He tiptoes through the living room but suddenly freezes in his tracks when he hears a voice say: “Jesus is watching you!”

When it becomes quiet again, the burglar creeps forward. And again the voice says, “Jesus is watching you.”

The burglar stops dead in his tracks. He is frightened. Frantically, he looks all around. In a dark corner, he spots a… birdcage and in the cage is… a parrot.

Gathering his senses, he asks the parrot: “Was it you all this time who said, ‘Jesus is watching me?’”

“Yes”, said the parrot.

The burglar breathes a sigh of relief, then gaining some confidence he asks the parrot: “What’s your name?”

“Clarence,” says the bird.

“That's a dumb name for a parrot,” sneers the now confident burglar. “What kind of a silly person would name a bird, ‘Clarence?’”

The parrot replies, “The same person who would call his attack dog ‘Jesus’… Jesus is watching you.”

Parrots are good imitators and our verse today is exhorting us to be good imitators, it says, 3 John 11: “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

Pertaining to this imitation: I think that we have all heard the analogy at one time or another in a sermon about counterfeiting counter-measures and how the authorities spot counterfeit currency. What they don’t do to learn how to identify counterfeit money is study counterfeit money. Instead what they do do is study real money. When they can identify the real thing then they know that all else is not the real thing. It is the same with us as it is only when we spend more time focusing on Christ, in prayer, worship, and Bible study, and less time on ourselves indulging in the selfish values of the world that we recognize what is good and what is evil. And also as we spend more of the currency of our time with God we will obviously become more like Him; however, there are those who will choose instead to use their time spending the counterfeit currencies of the world doing what is selfish and what is evil. 3 John tells us these people have not even seen God. We need to spend time with God to see Him and we need to spend time imitating what is good to build up for ourselves the real treasures that are in heaven (Matthew 6:19-24).

3 John 11: “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” This seems pretty simple. But sometimes we make simple things a little more complicated than they need to be, don’t we? When I was first reflecting on how simple this verse seems to be I was reminded of a few quotations that also point to the obvious. I have been promising for a couple of weeks to give us a test again. I have one for us today. Let’s see how we do. Let’s see if we can finish off these famous quotes. Bonus marks if we can say who said them.

1. Sometimes a cigar is just a ______ (cigar - Sigmund Freud)
2. When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a _______ (duck - Cardinal Richard Cushing[1])
3. A rose by any other name is still a ______ (rose – William Shakespeare’s Juliet in Romeo and Juliet)
4. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen ______ (God – John, the elder)

These famous quotes are all telling us what should be abundantly obvious to us: ‘sometimes a cigar is just a cigar;’ ‘if it swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck;’ ‘a rose by another name is still a rose;’ and ‘anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.’ Therefore do not imitate what is evil but what is good.

Our Biblical quote today is from this very short letter that John the elder, wrote to his friend Gaius (Verse 1) who probably lived in the city of Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia.[2] The Roman province of Asia: roughly what present day country is in this area? (Turkey). John, in all likelihood probably even founded this church in what is now Turkey.

As we read this letter John writes to this Ephesian church he may have founded, we notice that someone in this church, Diotrephes, is challenging John’s authority (Verse 9); Diotrephes is making false accusations about John and his companions; Diotrephes is not even accepting missionaries that John sends to visit the church (Verse 10); and Diotrephes is even kicking the people out of the church who are good to the missionaries and to John’s friends. This is infuriating! 

Now, if anyone is faithfully doing their readings as laid out in the reading plan in the bulletin, we remember from 2 John this week that what Diotrephes is doing to John and his friends is exactly what John told people to do with the Enemy’s people. Antichrists: we should not even accept them into our homes (2 John 7-11). Now someone in this church here is turning the tables on John in this way and Diotrephes is encouraging people not to accept John-sent missionaries into their homes (1 John 10).[3] John is not pleased. John is very upset. And John, with all of this going on, John is telling his friend, Gaius, in this short letter to a divided church how to know who to trust and how to know who not to trust in this conflict. John says, “Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

All of this infighting is happening in the church itself, remember. This isn’t people outside the church persecuting Christians. This is people inside the church who are tearing each other down. Sadly this happened even in the first century and sadly this happens even in the 21^st Century. Do we ever learn? Some people always, I think, try to grab power and authority for themselves that is not theirs to grab; reminiscent of Eve and Adam -I think- who, in disobeying God through reaching for the fruit, tried to be as God (Genesis 3:4).

In our text here today, in the midst of a power struggle between John the elder and his adversary the self-serving Diotrephes, John is away as he writes this letter to Gaius at home in Ephesus (Verse 1). John tells Gaius that when John’s friends stayed with Gaius that they only had good things to say about him (Verses 3-8) – unlike Diotrephes – and John tells Gaius too that he has an ally in Demetrius in their fight against Diotrephes and his selfish ways as Diotrephes is challenging God by challenging John’s God-given authority in this, His church.[4] 

John, in 3 John here, is shoring up support and trying to put down the self-serving revolt from within the church. In so doing John gives us this sage advice when he says that if it appears that Diotrephes is selfish, acting badly, and causing troubles; if it appears that he is not a believing God-server but rather a self-server; if it appears to be that way then we have to realize that it probably is that way and we should not be drawn into acting that way ourselves: ‘sometimes a cigar is actually a cigar;’ ‘if something swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck;’ ‘a rose by another name is still a rose;’ and, Verse 11, ‘anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.’ ‘Do not imitate what is evil but what is good.’ This seems simple and it is and it is actually very important for us to remember in this day and age.

It is basic for us in our world today. I think we have lots of people trying to tell us that a cigar isn’t really a cigar anymore and that a rose isn’t really a rose anymore. The values of our Canadian society seem to be being turned on their heads. Some people, like Diotrephes perhaps, make these long, convoluted arguments that are nothing more than attempts to obscure what should be abundantly obvious to all (Cf. Romans 1-2). These people act and these people talk in self-serving, rather than God-serving ways. There are people even in our country and in our community here who say a whole lot of things that sound really good but that are actually opposed to God.

And so because of this I think it is very important for us to remain faithful; I think it is very important for us to keep reading our Bibles so that we not to be deceived. When we pray and read our Bibles we can tell when someone is making grand speeches to lead us astray. When we pray and read our Bibles, we can tell and we can recognize when someone is trying to deceive us. When we pray and read our Bibles, we can tell and we can avoid being deceived by self-serving ploys. When we pray and read our Bibles can will realize that ‘a cigar is just a cigar;’ ‘if something swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck;’ ‘a rose by another name is still a rose;’ and as we pray and read our Bibles we will realize the simple truth that, Verse 11, ‘anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.’ Therefore ‘do not imitate what is evil but what is good.’

Now about some of these quotes: Do we know the origin of the “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” quote? It is attributed to psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud but a critic of Freud actually probably uttered the phrase. They have found no actual evidence of this quote anywhere in Freud’s myriad writings. Freud was an antichrist, openly. Freud had no time for religion at all. He thought it was for weak people and, evolutionarily speaking, he considered it to be primitive and outdated.[5] Freud, in all his wisdom, thought that all people went through certain stages in our lives and that at some point in our lives Freud thought that boys will all have crushes on their mothers, Freud thought that girls will all have crushes on their fathers. Freud thought that women each envy a certain part of the male anatomy and Freud thought that as people have oral fixations, that certain items – like cigars – Freud thought, are phallic symbols (for that part of the male). In response to all this, a critic probably said, “Oh come on now, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

Do we know the origin of the rose quote, “a rose by another name is still a rose?” William Shakespeare put these words into the mouth of Juliet in his play, Romeo and Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet is talking about her love. Juliet says that you cannot change the beautiful nature of something by just simply renaming it. It doesn’t make it any different. A rose is still as beautiful even if you call it a turnip or a skunk.

These days, there are a number of different ways that some even in our churches in this country are trying to convince us, like Diotrephes was trying to convince the good people in the Ephesus church, that a rose is something other than a rose. Over the last few years we have heard people trying to rename a rose, telling us that the Bible is not the inerrant Word of God (TSA Doc 1). From this deception they then proceed to tell us all kinds of things that should be obviously untrue. The Diotrephes of this world are selfish and they tell us that we have to look out for ourselves before serving God through others. The Diotrephes of our world today tell us that even though the Bible seems to say that certain selfish behaviours can be changed for the better, the Bible doesn’t really mean what it says: the Diotrephes of our world today say that you can’t even change your nature so don’t bother trying. The Diotrephes of our world today are telling us that we are born certain ways and we’ll never be able to change. This is sad. We know that’s not true.

We have all seen people change. We have all heard testimonies of people whose lives and world God has changed from the inside out. Many of us have had our lives changed as we have turned them over to God but the Diotrephes of our world today say that a rose is not a rose and a duck is not a duck and that not only can we not change the selfish and evil behaviours that have enslaved us but that they tell us that we can and we must embrace them and even build our identity around them: ‘why call a sin, a sin?’, they ask. ‘Don’t think you can be free of sin’, they say. ‘Enjoy your selfish actions’, they say. ‘Look out for number one’, they say. ‘Don’t worry about what God and the Bible says about loving God, your neighbour, and being perfect’, they say, ‘we all sin all the time’, they say, ‘just look after yourself’, they say, ‘and everything else will be okay.’ They say... They say... They say.

This is selfishness. This selfishness is sad because by putting oneself first instead of God and others, many people are denying the power of Christ to change even us from the inside out. It is sad because they are ignoring what is plain to see that is: we can all be changed, we can all be sanctified, we can all be made holy. This is the gospel truth. The epistles of John record that we can be free from sin; we should not be deceived. We do not need to be deceived it is as obvious as the fact that ‘a cigar really is just a cigar;’ ‘something that swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, is a duck;’ ‘a rose by another name is still a rose;’ and, Verse 11, ‘anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.’ And we can see God and we can do what is good. Therefore ‘do not imitate what is evil but what is good.’

Returning to the earlier analogy about the counterfeit money. How do we know what is evil in order to avoid it? Do we do this by studying evil and watching all the bad shows on TV or reading the bad books or surfing the bad Internet sites? No. We know evil and avoid it by spending time examining what is good. “Dear friend,” John the elder writes, “do not imitate what is evil but what is good.” The experts, who want to identify and stop counterfeit money, they don’t spend time around what is bad and fake, they spend time around what is good – the real thing. The more they spend time with the real thing, the more they are prepared to face the counterfeits. The more time we spend with the Lord in prayer and in Bible study, the more we are prepared for the counterfeits, the evils in our world. The more time we spend with the Lord in prayer and in Bible study, the more we are conformed to His likeness – not by our doing but by His.

We are all invited to spend time with our Lord praying and reading our Bibles; we are all invited to spend time serving our Lord and doing good – giving hope today. We are all invited to do this and as we do, we can be assured that we are indeed spending the Lord’s currency and building up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Life’s that simple: if we seek the Lord, we will find Him. And as we find Him, we will be transformed into His likeness no longer doing evil but instead doing good.

So then, in conclusion, life’s not as tricky as some would have us think: ‘a cigar is just cigar;’ ‘if something swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck;’ ‘a rose by another name is still a rose;’ and so, Verse 11, ‘Dear friend[s], do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. And we can all see God and we can all have our lives transformed by Him so that indeed He can do what is good through even us.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cardinal Richard Cushing’s duck quote available on-line at http://quotationsbook.com/quote/2701/#ixzz1LumYAmwv

[2] D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 21.

[3] Cf. D. Moody Smith, 153-154 for a good discussion of this possibility, assuming of course that 2 John and 3 John are written by the same person.

[4] Cf. John R. W. Stott,: The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 236

[5] Cf. Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, 1926. Translated by James Strachey. London: Hogarth Press, 1968.

John 18:28-19:16: Pilates at 6am

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 03 Feb 2013

By Captain Michael Ramsay

I have a Calvin and Hobbes comic to share with us today.[1]

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I have another primer/opener for you here. This one is a Harvey story. I don’t think that this one has shown up at Alpha yet but consider this a plug for Alpha: come and hear Harvey’s stories like the following:
 

There is this boy. He starts out writing a letter to Santa but then realises that he will get better results if he writes directly to the Lord. So he writes: ‘Dear Santa (crossed out). ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for six months; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute. Crosses it out and writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for one month; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute. Crosses it out and writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for a week; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute. Crosses it out and writes, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been good for a whole day; please give me what I want for Christmas.’ He thinks a minute and as he is thinking, he spies a nativity scene. He walks over to it. He picks up the statue of Mary and he walks back over to his desk. He places her in front of him; he picks up his pen again and he writes, ‘Dear Jesus… if you ever want to see your mother again…give me what I want for Christmas’

Today’s pericope (John 18:28-19:16) is about an awkward situation not entirely dissimilated to these two. It is certainly no less violent. Here we have the Jewish leaders bringing Jesus before Governor Pontius Pilate to receive his death sentence.  We remember the historical setting and the political situation at this time of Palestine. The Romans are the superpower of the day and the Romans are militarily occupying Judea. They conquered Israel by force and their forces are stationed all over the country. Just like in the nations that the US occupies today, some people are fine with it, conspiring with the occupiers to achieve and maintain position and privilege and some people are not: they are looking for an opportunity to revolt. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Priests and officers conspire with the Romans and they receive the power to exercise their authority by submitting to Rome. Others however do not. The Sicarii, the Zealots, they are like today’s suicide bombers. They are terrorists. They walk through the crowded marketplaces looking for Romans to stab with their short concealed Sicarii knives. When our story today is taking place, there are a lot of crowds for people to walk through. It is Passover in Jerusalem and hundreds of thousands or even by some accounts millions of visitors are pouring into Jerusalem.

Governor Pontius Pilate, who is the leader of the Roman forces in Judea, does not normally reside in the city of Jerusalem where he is today. He is usually posted in Caesarea Maritima but it is the Passover so – like in our times when millions of Hindus come to bathe in the Ganges River or when many Moslems from all over the world descend upon Mecca for Ramadan - many Jews are descending on Jerusalem for the Passover.

It would be like when the Olympics came to Vancouver. The city was seemingly completely full. In preparation for the event, they even flew people with criminal warrants back to the cities from which they came and the city needed to import police officers from all over the country to help with policing all of the visitors. Now imagine that the next Olympics are to be held in Kabul, Afghanistan; Baghdad, Iraq or some other US occupied country. Think of all the extra security forces that would be needed. This is the situation in Jerusalem of our text today. Governor Pontius Pilate who usually resides in a fortress in a different city comes to Jerusalem to oversee the crowd control. He and Rome are afraid of the potential for a Jewish revolt as all these people are converging on their ancient capital city for a religious festival.[2]

It is this situation that the Jewish leaders who conspire with the Romans (even if they do not like them that much), the chief priests and officers, decide to capitalize on (cf. John 11:45-57). They want Jesus dead. Jesus has been making problems for them. Jesus has been attracting massive crowds. Jesus apparently challenges them publicly at every possible opportunity. In the book of John here it is no secret that Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is the one to deliver his people. He is to deliver the people from their occupiers. The religious leaders are afraid that Jesus will start a rebellion that will not only cost them their privileges under the Romans but will also cost many innocent people their lives (cf. John 11:49-52). Jesus, in their eyes, is their adversary and this is the opportunity to get rid of him for good. They decide to bring Jesus to Governor Pontius Pilate, accuse him of treason and have the Romans kill him.

Now this is interesting. We know from the scriptures that there are times when mobs of Judeans had picked up stones to stone Jesus (John 8:32, 10:59) and we know that one such lynch mob would later kill Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), the first Christian martyr; so, why did the Jewish leaders need the Romans to kill Jesus for them? We know this was needed to fulfill prophecy (Deuteronomy 21:23; John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32–33) but there were other reasons that would have been running through the minds of the chief priests and officers. One is that the Jewish leaders were afraid of the people. It says this more than once in the Scriptures. They were afraid of what would happen if they seized Jesus and executed him publicly so instead they grabbed him at night in the garden, held their trials for him and then first thing in the morning, as soon as the governor began work – which was probably before six o’clock in the morning by the way - still under the cover of darkness, they bring Jesus and their mob to the Romans.[3] This way if the Romans kill Jesus, the Jewish leaders can easily say to the people that it wasn’t them. And we must remember also that because Judea is an occupied territory, the Jewish authorities don’t really have the authority to execute anyone anyway (cf. Josephus, War 1, 97f.; Antiquities XIII, 380-383).[4] Sometimes the Romans would turn a blind eye to their unauthorized executions in order to maintain order. But during the Passover, with so many forces stationed in Jerusalem, it probably wouldn’t be worth the risk and – like we said – with the Jewish leaders bringing Jesus to Pilate to be condemned, this way the Romans could take the blame for killing this popular leader so they can be both rid of Jesus and off the hook for his murder. This is the scene in the pericope before us today.

Now Verses 28-38, which we read earlier show some very interesting parts of Pilate’s interview of Jesus and his relationship with the Jews. At first in this section it reads as if Pontius Pilate is annoyed by the Jews. Here they are arriving at his doorstep, at the beginning of his workday at 6am, at Passover season, which is the busiest time of the year for him. He interviews Jesus but doesn’t seem to have any patience with the Jews at all. After the interview, Verses 38-40: “…With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’? They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.”

Here is an interesting tangent. Does anybody know any Aramaic? Do you know what the murderous revolutionary’s name Barabbas means? Break it into the two parts: part 2 is ‘Abba’; what does ‘Abba’ mean? ‘Abba’ means father. ‘Bar’ means ‘Son of’. Therefore Barabbas means ‘son of the father’. So ironically, Jesus who is ‘the Son of the Father’ dies in place of Barabbas whose name means ‘son of the father’. But that is a side note; let us return to our story.

Pilate and the Jewish leaders are having a bit of a standoff in our text today. The Jews here want Rome to execute Jesus and the leader of the Roman forces in Jerusalem is not really interested in this for two or three reasons. We know from Matthew’s Biblical account that Pilate’s wife has had a vision that would make him not want to kill Jesus (Matthew 27:19) and we also know from non-Biblical historical documents that Pilate didn’t really like the Jews and he ruled with an iron fist (Josephus, War II, 169-177 and Antiquities XVIII 55-62, 89-92; Philo, Legatio ad Gaium, 38; Tactius Annuals, 15, 44).[5] Pilate, I think, knows what the Jewish leaders are up to; he doesn’t like them and he doesn’t want to be dictated to by a conquered and an occupied people. He is Roman. Rome is the Superpower of the first Century. They are the Americans of their day. They are not going to be dictated to by a subjugated people.

Chapter 19 begins with Pilate possibly thinking that he can just brush this whole thing aside still; he has just tried to release a convicted revolutionary in place of an accused revolutionary but to no avail. Now he resorts to having Jesus beaten. This beating can take place for one of two reasons in this context. One, they did often beat people before crucifixion; or two, they would also beat people in place of crucifixion as a form of brutal humiliation. Given that Pilate ordered this beating and then humiliated him by having Jesus dressed in a robe with a crown of thorns and then further appealed to the Jewish leaders to see if this would satisfy them, this whole exercise was probably another attempt to avoid signing Jesus’ death warrant and to get rid of these pesky Jewish leaders before they cause some real problems for Pilate.[6]

Now in the lines that follow, John 19:12ff., Pontius Pilate is still apparently trying to decide what to do and Jesus isn’t really helping him any by refusing to answer certain questions. The Jewish leaders and their mob are now getting anxious and no doubt inpatient as time goes on. They need this done quickly before anyone might form another mob and come to Jesus’ aid. They then go on to push Pilate’s buttons. They know how to get to the governor and they do.  They say to Governor Pilate, Verse 12, “... If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” The implication here is not subtle; it is that if he does not order Jesus’ execution they will write to his boss, the Emperor in Rome, saying that Pilate let a revolutionary live who was trying to lead a revolt against Rome and as the Roman Emperor at this time seemed somewhat paranoid in general and was not afraid to act militarily at the first perceived threat, Verse 13, “When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).”

This next part is the part that I want to focus on. It is where we can ask ourselves what is the author of John telling us in the text here and what is God doing here in this story?

We know that the Romans promoted, among other things, an Emperor cult.[7] The Emperor was worshiped as a god. These Jews have just let Pilate know that if he does not kill Jesus, they will report him as supporting a rebellion against his own god-king. Pilate’s response is as masterful as it is vengeful, as it is tragic for the Jews. Verses 14-18:

It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Do you know what Pilate has just done here to the Jewish leaders before he would give them what they want? Do you know what the religious leaders have just done? They have just denied their God. In effect the Jewish leaders said to Pilate that if you do not give the orders crucify Jesus we will tell your god-king Caesar that you are disloyal to him; so Pilate responds by saying to these Jews that if you want me to crucify Jesus, you must deny your God-King. When Governor Pilate got the Jewish religious leaders to confess that “We have no king but Caesar”, that is exactly what they were doing – denying YHWH, the LORD, God.

This is Passover. Every Passover the Jewish people concluded the great Hallel (Psalms. 113–118) with this prayer: ‘From everlasting to everlasting thou art God; beside thee we have no king, redeemer, or saviour; no liberator, deliverer, provider; none who takes pity in every time of distress or trouble. We have no king but thee.’[8] The Jewish leaders here are not only indirectly disowning God by rejecting Jesus in this way but they are also opennly, actively rejecting God in their action of disowning Jesus (cf. John 1:11).

The Jewish Chief Priests and Officers want this big problem of Jesus removed from their lives so much that they are willing to disavow God in order to do it. They are like Calvin in our openning comic strip. So much does he want to hit Susie with the snowball that he sacrifices his soul to the devil. This is what the Jewish leaders have done. What profits a man to inherit the whole world and yet forfeit his soul (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36)? This is a tragedy of this story. He came to his own but they did not accept him (John 1:11). The Jewish leaders rejected God and we know that for many this rejection continued even to the point of setting up the modern religion of Judaism ca. 70 CE where they formalize both their rejection of the ancient Israelite traditions and their rejection of the perfection of those traditions in Christ. God came to them in their time of need but they thought that they could deliver themselves from their suffering; so, rather than rely on God, they rejected him and suffered without him as even their beloved Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. God left them? No, they - the Jewish Chief Priests, Officers, and their followers - left God and so they do not have Him.

The question for us today then is this: When life starts to get out of hand, when –like the Jewish leaders - there is nothing that we can humanly do; when tragedy strikes our life as I know it has lately for many of us here, do we turn to God and live or do we turn on God and die. Do we turn to God and live or do we turn on God - indulging in our own anger, vengeance, self-pity and arrogance - and suffer the consequences.

Now we are short on time but I want to bring one more thing to our attention here. Immediately preceding the Jewish leaders’ denial of Christ in our story is Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus (John 18). We are all familiar with that. As surely as the Jewish authorities here openly and publicly disavow God’s lordship, Peter, just prior to this episode denies Christ for a third time (John 18:27) – but Peter, after the resurrection, in a couple of chapters will be reinstated and Peter will not deny Christ again, he will follow him even unto death (John 21:9-19). Peter will confess his sin and his self-focus in his time of trouble and Peter will be saved.

Today we have the same choices before us. We are all holding Calvin’s snowball. As our life comes crashing down around us, as trials and tribulations mount, as enemies and adversaries seem to be raised up from every corner of our world, as our life becomes overwhelming, it is like we are in the courtyard with Jesus in our story today and we can either turn on him by indulging in and holding onto our anger, our rage, our righteous indignation, and our own self-pity or we can turn to him and live. So today when life is difficult, let us take courage and let us turn to him who is able, more than able to accomplish what concerns us today. Let us turn to him who is able, more than able to handle anything that comes our way. When life is difficult, let us turn to him who is able, more than able to do much more than we could ever dream. Let us turn to him who is able, more than able to make us what He wants us to be. He is able. Amen.

Let us pray this song together.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1]http://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/search.php?phrase=snowman

[2] Kruse, Colin G.: John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 351

[3] cf. William Hendricksen, John, New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Academic, 2007), 400

[4] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),820.

[5] Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 204, Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 815

[6] Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 355

[7]Cf. 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

[8] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 823; Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 359, red 422.