Blessed are the pure in heart

When I was in Edgehill College I got to go on a placement to Sri Lanka.  On one occasion a group of us climbed a small mountain called Bible Rock.  We ascended through a leach infected forest.  At the top was a plateau.  To our surprise there was a hut there, which was the home of a Buddhist monk.  To our even greater surprise he had a television in that hut.  And I am not too sure how surprised we were that he wanted to charge us money to see his shrine.

Presumably that monk believed that by breaking away from society he might be more able to live a holy life.

I hope that holiness is a concern for each of us, but if you are like me not only is there the desire to be holy there is the disappointment as we realise how unholy we are.              

            As we look at Matthew 5 verse 8 we are going to ask five questions.

1.  What is the heart?

2.  What does it mean to have a pure heart?

3.  How can our hearts become pure?

4.  What about the impurity I see in my heart?

5.  What does it mean to see God?

Question 1:  What is the heart?

We tend of associate the heart with affection.  If we love someone we put a heart by their name, if we lose someone we are broken-hearted.  However the Bible uses ‘heart’ in a much broader way.  

            Mark 2:6-7, reads, ‘‘Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that?”’ The word translated ‘thinking’ is ‘kardiais’, which comes from kardia (heart).  Hence the King James Version translates, ‘they reasoned in their hearts.’  The heart for the Bible writers includes what we might refer to as the ‘mind’.

            There are numerous passages in the Bible that talk of people being hard-hearted, they are stubborn.  The heart referring to the ‘will’. 

So when we look at this verse we are not just talking of our affections, but also our ‘mind’ and our ‘will’. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, says that in the Bible, ‘heart’ means the centre of one’s personality.  Purity of heart has to do with our very core being, it is to show itself in our likes and dislikes, our motivation, our thoughts and our understanding.

The Bible also tells us that humankind has a heart problem. In Mark 7:21-23 Jesus declares, ‘. . .out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.’  Out of men’s hearts—you see that Buddhist monk was wasting his time thinking that by breaking away from society he would achieve holiness, for as he climbed up that mountain (presumably on one occasion bringing his) his problem came with him.  It has been said that, ‘The heart of the human problem, is the problem of the human heart.’  If we are to have real holiness then something needs to happen in our heart.  

Question 2: ‘What does it mean to have a pure heart?’

The primary emphasis on the word pure in our verse, according to John Stott, is ‘sincerity’.  J. B. Phillips translates these words, ‘blessed are the utterly sincere. . .’

During Jesus earthly ministry people who would have had a great reputation for holiness would have been the Pharisees.  They seemed to hover around the Temple and Synagogues, they tithed even the herbs of their garden, they fasted and prayed, they would have been great for quoting Scriptures; but this is what Jesus says to them- Matthew 23:25-26, ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee!  First clean the inside of the cup, and then the outside will also be clean.’

The word hypocrite comes from a word meaning ‘to act’.  Their actions are not sincere, it was all just a show.  So what does he tell them?  ‘First clean the inside of the cup’, their heart- their desires, their motives, their mindset, their very being must be transformed; ‘and then the outside of the dish will also be clean’—they will act with sincerity.  Genuine holiness is heart holiness, it is sincere rather than an act because it works from the inside out.   

Question 3: ‘How can our hearts become pure?’

We have already pointed out that humankind has a heart problem, so how can we ever hope to have a pure heart?

David prayed in Psalm 51, ‘Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.’ God can do for us, what we can not do for ourselves.

            Tragically that Buddhist monk on his own on top of that mountain, lacked the one thing he needed if he ever was to have heart holiness: a relationship with the true and living God.

Yes we may be able to change some of our patterns of behaviour, but only God can change our very core—our heart. 

            However the fact that it is God’s work doesn’t mean that we just put up our feet and wait for it to happen.  Philippians 2:12-13,  ‘. . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good pleasure.’

            It is God who changes us, verse 13 . . . who works in you to will and to act according to his good pleasure’ and because of that we are to ‘continue to work out our salvation’ i.e., to grow up in our faith; there is a responsibility upon us, to act dependant co-operation. Not activism or self dependant effort.  Not passivism or apathy. Dependant co-operation.

Question 4: ‘What about the impurity I see in my heart?’

            I want you to turn to page x (2 Corinthians 3).

            When we became Christians, when we were born-again God did a work in our hearts.  We see this in verse 3.  Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth saying, ‘You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts’ (a reference to our Old Testament reading).

            Yet even as born-again people we are so often aware that we are not as we ought to be.  That we so often fail to be like Jesus.  Well thank God his work in our hearts has not finished.  Look over the page to verse 18, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

            We are ‘being transformed’, we are not yet the finished article, but there is a change taking place.  It is as if God has put a ‘work in progress’ sign over our hearts.

John Newton the slave trader who became a Christian, and who wrote the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ said, ‘I may not be as good as I ought to be, but by the grace of God, I am not as bad as I used to be.’  

Question 5: ‘What does it mean ‘to see God’?’

Martin Lloyd-Jones, ‘Christian people can see God in a sense that nobody else can.  The Christian can see God in nature, whereas the none Christian cannot.  The Christian sees God in the events of history.  There is a vision possible to the eye of faith that no-one else has.  But there is a seeing also in the sense of knowing Him, a sense of feeling he is near, and enjoying his presence. . . Another way that we see him is in our experience, in His gracious dealings with us . . But of course that is nothing compared with what is yet to be.’

The pure in heart experience God. 

Knowing him, sense of feeling he in near

1 John 3 verse 2-3, ‘Dear friends, now we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as he is pure.’

‘[T]he Christian purifies himself now because pure is what he will ultimately be’ (Carson) . 

‘The pure in heart are blessed because they will see God.  Although this is not ultimately true until the new heaven and earth, yet it is true even now.  Our perception of God and his ways, as well as our fellowship with him, depends on our purity of heart’ (Carson).  What an incentive to purity!

‘Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.’

 

 

 

 

Matthew 6:19-25 ‘Making a good investment’

 

I like the concept of idols when it comes to seeing what is wrong with the human heart.  An idol is not necessarily something carved out of wood or stone, but something that we look to for our security and significance.  Money, and the stuff money can buy, is one very popular idol.  Jesus teaches us that we cannot live for both God and money.

Investing in heaven makes sense (19-21)

How much is enough?  The rich person replies, ‘just a little more’.  Wealth has a way of leaving us unsatisfied.  It also has a way of disappearing.  The minute you drive that new car out of the garage it has depreciated.  Inflation means that your money is worth less every year.  Shares crash.  Property bubbles burst.  Scam artists steal.  Even if all of your invests go well, you are going to have to leave it all behind you when you die!

But there is an investment with a magnificent return.  It is in the Bank of Heaven.  How we live now affects the joy that we will experience in the life to come.  Everything we do for God has eternal significance.  Even the smallest thing done in Jesus’s name, like giving someone a cup of water, will never lose its reward.

Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also (21).  People often play the short game—living without reference to God and thinking that the stuff of this world is as good as it gets.  But there is a long game—to enjoy God now and for all eternity.

Investing is based on how we see the world (22-23)

Our attitude towards wealth is about how we see the world.  If your eye is healthy (or ‘clear’ or ‘generous’) your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad (or ‘evil’) your whole body will be full of darkness.

If our sight has been caught by the beauty of Jesus, and what He has done for us through His death and resurrection, it will show itself in how we use our money.  If His love is pouring into us, it will generously flow out of us.  As the hymn says, ‘turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of the world will go strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.’ 

But, if our joy comes primarily through what we can purchase; if our security is based on trusting our bank account to provide rather than trusting our God to provide; and, if we are we demand that the world sees us as a success, then it is doubtful that we know God at all.

We have to choose how we invest  

No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  Your money wants to master you.  It wants you to live for it.  Like all idols it promises security and significance.  Like all idols it fails to deliver.  It will make you a slave if you let it.  You need to sit down with all of your stuff and be firm.  You need to say to it, ‘Thank you for coming today.  Listen, I just want you to make sure that the rules are clear.  You shall serve me, not I you.  And I serve God!’ (Adapted from O’Donnell). 

A pastor warned his son that you cannot serve both God and money.  The son replied, ‘but you can serve God with money’.  That is so true.  In one of his most interesting statements Jesus says, ‘I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings’ (Luke 16:9).  Imagine if the generosity you showed to someone in Christ’s name touched them so deeply that they allowed His love to master them.  Think how the money spent on missions enables people to hear the gospel.  Imagine you arrive into heaven and one of the people you meet says to you, ‘I am here because of how you gave.’  That would be a treasure in heaven! That would be a good investment!

Wise men still seek Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12)

 

The carol, ‘We three kings of orient are’, was written by John Hopkins in 1857.  It contains a number of factual inaccuracies.  To start with, there is no mention of three kings.  There were three gifts, but that does not necessarily imply three kings.  Then the carol gives symbolism for each of the gifts, but there is no reason to read anything into the gifts other than they were very expensive.  Indeed, in the providence of God these gifts may have been used to support the young family as they sought refuge in Egypt.  Finally, these were not kings.  They were magi—astrologers and learned men.

Yet despite all the misrepresentations of this story there is a lot to learn. We learn that the gospel has a ring of truth.  We learn that Jesus is the wisdom of God.  We learn that Jesus calls for a response.

1.       We learn that the gospel has a ring of truth

There are things about this story that the Christmas-card versions make it hard to believe.  I always struggled to understand how a star could hover over a stable.  But then the Christmas-card version is misleading.

The idea of a star being associated with the birth of a king was not unusual.  Around the time of Julius Caesar’s murder, in 44 BC, there was a lot of comet activity.  It became known as ‘Caesar’s Comet’.  It was said to be associated with Julius Caesar becoming divine.  Stars in the sky and events in the life of a king became associated in the minds of the people.

At that time, in that part of the world, there was a rumour that a great king was going to come out of Judea.  Pagan historians mention this.  So, when the star event appears it is natural for the magi to go to Jerusalem in Judea to enquire.

The chief priests and teachers of the scriptures pointed them to Bethlehem.  Apparently, the Greek of the text does not imply that the star stopped over a manger but the town.  That, I will admit, is pretty extraordinary.  Of course, there is no mention of a manger here, the young family are in a house.  The magi may have found where a baby boy was through discreet enquiry.

This Herod, Herod Archelaus, died in 4 BC, so the church’s later dating of the birth of Jesus is a few years out.  What we read here, and in the rest of Matthew’s account of this Herod, rings true.  This Herod was a paranoid man, who murdered his favourite wife and two sons.  When it says, in verse 3, that all Jerusalem was disturbed about the star, it was not because of their love for Herod, they would have been glad to see him replaced, but they knew that the ailing man could become cruel if he thought there was a rival to his power.

As it happens we know that there were a number of significant star events in that year.

But perhaps the most striking mark of authenticity is found in what these men are.  They are ‘magi’.  Magi from which we get the word ‘magic’.  They are into things like astrology (think horoscopes).  Any time such practices are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible they are condemned.  These are things that God’s people are not to do.  If Matthew, a Jew, was making up this story he would never have included such people.  This story is so open to misunderstanding.  So why does Matthew include this event?  The best answer is because it happened!

 

2.       We learn that Jesus is the wisdom of God

Matthew is writing for Christians who have come from a Jewish background.  He wants to show the link between Jesus and the prophecies of the Old Testament.  Indeed, how Jesus fulfils prophecy is another evidence of the Bible’s truthfulness.

He also contrasts the unbelief of the Jews and the belief of outsiders like the magi.  On one hand, be careful not to close your mind to Jesus.  On the other hand, never think that you could not become one of His people.

He also wants to show us God’s wisdom in Jesus.

In our society we think of astrologers as quacks.  Things like horoscopes are foolishness at best.  But in that day these men were considered the most learned in society.  They were a picture of the world’s wisdom at that time.  These wise men bow down before Jesus—who is the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

Think of the beautiful wisdom of God. 

How can a God who is perfectly holy and inapproachable in His perfection come and live among sinful people like us?  He does so as Jesus, God the Son, takes on human flesh.  This is what we celebrate at Christmas.  

How can God Himself save His people, and yet the punishment for wickedness be paid by humankind?  The answer is the one mediator between God and man, fully God and fully human.  Jesus dying on a cross for us.  We celebrate that at Easter.

How can God change natural born rebels so that we delight to follow Him?  The answer is in Jesus sending the person of the Holy Spirit, and where the Spirit is He is there too.  Christ in us the hope of glory.  We celebrate this at Pentecost.

What the world considers wise changes all the time.  We no longer consider astrologers to be learned.  Our generation have rejected much of what previous generations thought was self-evident.  It is called chronological snobbery—every generation believes it knows better than the ones that went before it.  Future generations will mock many of our considered opinions.  But the truth of Jesus will always ring true!

3.      We learn that Jesus calls for a response

Finally, whenever we read a gospel story we should look at the various responses of people to Jesus.

Here there is the response of the religious teachers and leaders.  Their response is apathy.  They point out that a ruler will be born in Bethlehem, but they have no interest in going to see Him.  Like so many people in our world, Jesus is someone that doesn’t really matter.  In fact, at Christmas time in our culture Jesus is notably not a priority.

People only remain apathetic towards Jesus when they can keep Him at a distance.  If you tell yourself that Jesus is merely a good teacher then He will never disturb you.  But He comes as a king.  He comes to rule your life.  He comes to take control.  Herod knew that there was a new king in town and he responded with hostility.  The truth is that our lives will never feel whole until we stop putting ourselves at the centre and we ask Jesus to be our king.

That brings us to the magi.  Those learned and apparently wealthy men—after all look at their gifts.  They saw Jesus as having worth.  Much more they saw Jesus as the end of their search.  Look at verse 12, ‘they rejoiced greatly’.  It is literally they ‘rejoiced with great joy’.  G. K. Chesterton, ‘meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain, meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.’  When all the gifts are open the emptiness will still be there.  You can have all the learning and all the wealth in the world, but there is still a sense of emptiness and boredom.  Jesus was the end of their search.  He is the only one who can offer true purpose.  He causes His people to rejoice.  So, we must not forget the wonder.    

‘Is it better to be just or merciful?’ (Matthew 1:19-20)

In 2019 Joe Humphries wrote an article in The Irish Times entitled, ‘Why humans need mercy more than justice.’  It began, “’Is it better to better to be just or merciful?’  This is a question that has troubled politicians and preachers down through the ages, but in recent times the hammer of justice has been banging particularly loudly.’ 

He explains that ‘by recent times’ he means since the enlightenment – when the Christian virtue of forgiveness started to drift out of fashion in political theory.  He quotes on Oxford University professor, who wrote that ‘it is the fact that other people do not exercise their power of harm to the full that allows us to survive from one day to the next.’  This professor even states that when the robots take over we had better hope they are merciful.

1.       The justice and mercy of Joseph

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly (19).  Joseph faced a dilemma: he wants to respond to Mary’s situation with both mercy and justice.  

Betrothal in that culture was like engagement, but it was more binding.  Joseph would have been between eighteen and twenty.  Mary between twelve and fourteen.  The engagement would have been arranged by their parents, but with their consent.  Promises would have been made before two witnesses.  It would be a year before they marry.  In Galilee they were strict about the pair being alone together.  They might never have been alone in private.

If a person cheated in betrothal it was considered an act of adultery.  Under the Old Testament law that could be punished by stoning.  That fact made me think of the Oxford University professor’s remarks—we owe our existence to the fact that others do not do us the full harm they could.  Joseph could have fought to have Mary killed.   

However, in Joseph and Mary’s day this death sentence was rarely carried out.  What Joseph would have been expected to do was divorce her publicly, and expose her to great public shame.  But Joseph is merciful.  He can divorce her quietly and save her as much condemnation as possible.

2.       The justice and mercy of Jesus

When I read the story of Joseph I think of two other occasions of women accused of sexual immorality.  The first is in Genesis 38 where Judah accuses his daughter-in-law Tamar.  Thinking that she had been a prostitute he had slept with her.  When he finds out that she is now pregnant he wants her to be burned to death.  Until his own guilt is exposed.  Judah wanted justice, but he had no place for mercy.  Justice was self-righteous and hypocritical.  Self-righteous people are often the least merciful of people.  If we lack mercy it might be because we have forgotten about the mercy that God has shown to us.

Then there is Jesus in John 8.  A woman caught in the very act of adultery is brought to him.  The people who brought her care neither for justice or mercy.  They are just trying to put Jesus in a difficult situation.  Jesus refuses to condemn her.  But he warns her to leave her life of sin.  He is merciful.  But there will be a day of justice.  Justice and mercy kiss in the life of Jesus.

3.       Justice and mercy in the Old Testament

How can Joseph, who is faithful to the law, show mercy?  How can Jesus, who is upholds the law, show mercy?  The law shows us what we deserve, but mercy seeks our forgiveness!

In the book of Zechariah, we see a High Priest by the name of Joshua (Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus).  The High priest stood between God and His people.  In particular the High Priest acted out God’s mercy and justice on the annual day of atonement.  That day of atonement pictured God’s desire to remove the people’s sin, and the fact that sin required the shedding of blood.

But as Joshua stands before God his robes are covered in excrement.  In his sin he is unworthy to carry out his duties.  Then God puts clean robes on him saying, ‘see, I have taken your sin’ (4).  How does God do this?  He does it by exercising both mercy and judgement.  ‘I will remove the sin of the land in a single day’ (9).  There was a greater day of atonement where Jesus was sacrificed fulfilling the need for justice, and where in mercy our sins were taken from us.

Climax:  Which is better, mercy of justice?

It is not really a good question.  We need both mercy and justice.  But in His justice God has not forgotten mercy.  He offers us mercy now, and there will be some justice now.  But he warns us that we need to be ready for a future day when there will be justice without mercy.

Tim Keller writes, ‘mercy isn’t the job of the Christian, it is the mark of a Christian.’  The Christian is someone who knows that a just God has found a way to show us infinite mercy.  Therefore, like Joseph we should be people of mercy.

Think of the Dublin riots.  Yes, we want to see justice done.  We want to have a society of law and order.  But so many of the reactions lacked mercy.  Everyone was looking for someone to blame.  It began with a merciless act of violence.  Before long tweets were circulating pointing out that the Irish citizen who had done this was from another country.  There was an attitude that stirred by hatred to the migrant, in contravention of the Bible’s teaching to welcome them.  Then there were the looters, young men mostly.  Even our Ministry of Justice called them ‘thugs and scumbags’.  That is hardly language wants mercy to people, many of whom come from socially deprived areas.  Then there was the lack of mercy shown to that Minister of Justice, a young woman who has endured much pain in her life.  Then there is the demonizing of a who variety of groups labelled as the ‘alt-right’.  Yes, we want justice to be done.  But surely, we want guilty people like ourselves to be transformed by the mercy of Jesus.  Surely the first thought of a Christian (and I am not sure it was my first thought) is ‘Lord have mercy’.  

Make peace not war (Matt. 5:9)

The story is told of a church that had a terrible split.  In fact, I think it led to a group of people leaving that church and setting up a rival church.  When someone later tried to figure out what had begun these hostilities, they were able to trace it to the fact that at a church meal one person had received a bigger slice of dessert than another.

It is not always the fault of those who leave that churches split.  Sometimes the ruling clique within a church make things so difficult for those in the church to stay that they feel they have no choice but to go elsewhere.  In his great mercy God has often used splits in churches to plant new churches, but there should be a desire for healing between those who have fallen out.

In truth Christians have often proved poor at getting on with each other, and when this happens the heart of Jesus is saddened and the witness of his church is tainted.  We need to hear the words, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.’ 

We follow the prince of peace

At Christmas time we read words from Isaiah that look forward to the coming of the Messiah and tell us that he shall be called the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6-7).  The apostle Paul explained to the Colossian Christians that Jesus had made peace through his blood on the cross (Col. 1:20).

Jesus is the one who takes the initiative in peace-making.  We were hostile towards God (Rom. 8:7), and yet he sought us out.  Jesus is the one who pays the cost of peace.  He laid down his life to make us his brothers and sisters.

The gospel is not a message of two warring sides coming to the negotiating table and settling for some uneasy truce.  The gospel is a message about the innocent and offended party seeking out those who had acted treacherously towards them and doing everything needed to not only grant them forgiveness but accept them into a relationship of infinite warmth.

For this peace to come about God has to give us a new heart (Ezek. 36:26).  Those who by nature resist God don’t become lovers of God without a work of God.  Thank God for those who prayed for you before you came to Christ.  Thank God that he continues to work within you to keep you soft towards him.

We proclaim of message of peace

Paul’s letter to the Romans quotes the book of Isaiah saying, ‘how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’ (Rom. 10:15).  One of the ways that we become peace-makers is by sharing the good news of how people can know peace with God.  People used to ask about the deceased, ‘did he make his peace with God?’  I always thought the emphasis was a little wrong in that question for it is God who makes peace with us.  We might be better asking, ‘did he receive the peace of God?’

In the 1700s John Newton hated God.  He used to shock his fellow slave-traders with the blasphemies he would make up about God.  He set about destroying the faith of those who claimed to love God.  He persuaded a young man called Job Lewis to turn away from God, and later Job Lewis would die in emotional torment without God.  So obvious was his vulgarity that after a storm, when it looked like they were not going to survive the captain of the ship concluded that Newton was like a Jonah onboard who had caused God to send the storm.  The captain openly said to him, ‘if I throw you overboard we shall be preserved from death, and not otherwise.’

But what the captain didn’t know was that in that storm God had reached into Newton’s heart and caused him to cry out for mercy.  God had used the fear of death to bring the prodigal son to his senses.  Newton was a transformed man who would become a gracious pastor, the writer of hymns like ‘Amazing Grace’ and an opponent of the slave trade.  God made peace with John Newton.

Ask God to make you an effective peace envoy.  Ask him to show you how amazing this grace is.  Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you could speak the truth with courage (Acts 4:31).  Ask God to do what is needed to change the hearts of people to accept God’s peace.

We are to be people of peace

Sharing the gospel is not the only way we can be peacemakers.  We are called to get along with people.  The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, used to tell his followers that they ought to be friends of all and enemies of none.  In as much as it depends on us we are to live at peace with everyone (Rom. 12:18).  Peace between ourselves and others won’t always be possible, but we must have always done everything possible between ourselves and others.  Remember that Jesus is the one who took the initiative in peace-making.  He sought out those who are hostile towards him.  Seeking to love those who don’t like you can be costly.  It can open your heart to further hurt.  But Jesus paid an infinite peace to bring us peace.

The night before the crucifixion Jesus prayed for those who would become Christians.  We see that his great desire is that Christians would be at peace with each other and that the peace between God’s people would speak to the world about him.  He said, ‘I pray for those who will believe in me … that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’ (Jn. 17:20-23).  We sadden the heart of Jesus and damage the witness of his church when we refuse to take the initiative and seek to be at peace with those who may have offended us.  How often our non-believing friends point to the huge number of different churches, that often formed from church-splits, and use that as an excuse to say that there must be something defective in our message.

Conclusion

What a wonderful God we serve!  He is a God who calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.  In doing this we will be children of God (Matt. 5:44-45).  We will be displaying the family likeness.  For our heavenly Father is to all that he has made, and so he causes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:46).

In a world of petty patriotism, of deep racism and of prejudice we can be a people known for our love.  But we will need to ask God to keep on furthering his work in our hearts.  We pray that would help us show a family likeness to the God who is love.  

Jesus wants you to share His happiness (Matthew 25:14-30)

I got a strange look from a friend when I told her that I believed that God is emotionally complex.  I didn’t mean it as an insult to God.  What I mean is that God’s emotions are beyond our understanding.  If I look inside a digital radio I can’t understand how it works, it is too complex for me, yet it works perfectly.  In the same way God’s perfect emotions are beyond my current comprehension.

In particular I can’t understand how God can hold together differing emotions at the same time.  He is both righteously angry and yet perfectly at peace.  He is infinite in love and yet expresses a holy hatred.  He grieves over the lost and yet it does not take away from His delight in those He has saved.

One emotion that we must not forget is God’s happiness.  He does all things well and that thrills His heart.  In His infinite kindness He wants us to share that happiness.  Look at what the master says in this parable: ‘Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Jesus will come back at the end of time and say, ‘Come and share my happiness!’  In fact, I think He wants us to experience some of that happiness now.

I am going to make four observations on what is often called the Parable of the Talents.

1.     Jesus wants us to love working for Him

The parable just before this one is the parable of the ten virgins.  There we were warned to be prepared for Jesus’ return.  But how can we be prepared to meet Jesus?  This Parable tells us.  We are prepared to meet the Lord as we produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8).  We wait for the Lord’s return not like we wait for a plane in an airport—bored and frustrated, but like an obedient child whose mother has said, ‘please, have the sitting room hovered by the time I get back.’

The only problem with saying that it is like the child with the sitting-room to hover is that I don’t know any children who would thing that hovering was much fun.  Yet the tasks that Jesus has commissioned us to should delight us.  Jesus isn’t trying to rob you of the pleasures of life, He has promised to give us life in all its fullness (John 10:10).  David Jeremiah says that ‘Christian joy is letting Christ live His life out through you so that what He is, you become.’

God wants you to take pleasure in Him.  There are few things less natural to our sinful nature than giving away money.  But He calls us to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Think of why giving might delight your heart.  In the next parable we will see Jesus teach that anything we give to the neediest of His people is treated as if it was given directly to Him.  Isn’t that an amazing privilege!  Don’t you know that He will more than repay you on the last day?  Think of giving to missionary work.  Those missionaries are now your partners.  You work with them in their ministry.  He will reward you for what He does through them.  That is a good investment!

I am thankful for your giving to this church, because it enables me to minister in preaching and teaching.  If I teach anything that helps those who listen remember that I did not work alone, I worked with your help God will reward you for that!

 

2.     Jesus doesn’t ask for more than we can deliver

When we think of talents, we tend to think of gifts and abilities.  But the talent that is used in this parable refers to a certain amount of wealth.  That is why the NIV uses the term ‘bags of gold’.  This talent was worth about twenty years wages.  The master has left the servants with great responsibility.

This picture of talents or ‘bags of gold’ can represent anything that can be invested in the kingdom.  It includes your money, but it also includes you time and opportunities.  Each of us have unique opportunities.  There are people you can love that I don’t even know.  God has placed us in our families, workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods for a reason.

Notice that He gives each according to their abilities.  He does not load us with responsibilities too great for us.  Myself and Caroline looked at going to Africa before we came to Limerick, but the mission agency we were talking with were more excited at the idea of keeping us at home.  I think that they may have realised that I have problems with my mental health and thought I could not take it.  I think they may have been right.  The strain might have been too much for me.  That responsibility was beyond my ability.  Jesus will not ask you to give more than you can handle.

However, I think we tend to underestimate our abilities.  Not because we think too little of ourselves, but because we don’t realise what God can do through imperfect and broken people.  Our problem is not that we are too humble, but that we lack faith.  We may not be very brave, but when the frightened Christians prayed in the book of Acts they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with courage (Acts 4:31).

Why not pray at the beginning of each day that God would open up doors for you to speak about Him.  Ask Him to direct your conversations and see what happens.  Be available and give Him the responsibility to lead you.

Also, remember that our lack of self-control, our impatience and our shallowness of love are nothing to do with our lack of abilities.  They simply remind us of a lack of dependence on the Holy Spirit to produce this fruit in us!

3.     Jesus loves to say ‘well done’

It is all of grace.  Anything we do is done in His strength.  He gives us our abilities.  He gives us the desire to serve Him (Phil. 2:13).  If there is any fruit to our labours it is produced by Him (1 Cor. 2:13).  But the fact that it is His work in us, rather than work alone, does not stop Him saying ‘well done’.  If I give one of my children twenty Euro to buy me a birthday present I am still delighted when they give me that gift.

The two faithful servants have different abilities and are given different talents, but they receive the same commendation: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will now put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Both produced a increase in proportion to the talents they had been given, both were rewarded with more responsibility.  It looks like the reward for hard work is more work.  But who can imagine what the joyous and satisfying work in the new creation might be.

It is not unhealthy to want to hear your master say ‘well done!’  Godly parents will say well done often, even though they can see the child’s efforts are far from perfect.  I don’t believe we need to wait until he returns to hear Jesus say ‘well done.’  I think He whispers ‘well done’ over all our imperfect efforts to please him.

4.     Jesus looks for current fruit rather than past experience.

Who is this unfaithful servant who ends up in hell?  They are not a real Christian, that’s for sure.  They are someone who took what was given to them and did nothing with it.  Remember that John the Baptist told us to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8).  No amount of good works can get you into God’s kingdom, but we show that we belong to Him as His love transforms us.

Also, notice that He has a terrible idea of who the master is.  Is our master really a hard man?  Jesus tells us that he is humble and lowly of heart.  There is no love in this man for his master.  ‘It can be said about us, as humans, that we try to be like our God.  If He is conceived to be stern and exacting and harsh, so will we be!’  If you find yourself to be critical and bitter it may be that this is because you think of God as being that way.   

If this person lived among our evangelical churches, she would someone who once prayed a prayer of commitment to Jesus at a meeting, but little has changed in her life since.  Jesus looks for current fruit rather than past experience.

I do have one last application for our church.  Through the generous giving of this congregation and good financial management we have a very healthy bank account.  But that places a great responsibility on our shoulders.  That is money to be invested in the kingdom.  We need God to show us where and how.  Similarly, we have our own building, and many churches don’t, we want this building to be used by lots of fellowship through whom Jesus can build His church.

Conclusion—stake on the plate while you wait

‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few thongs; I will put you in change of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  This is the Christian’s pursuit of happiness, the promise of future joy!  In fact, Jesus lived for future joy.   Jesus went to the cross for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2).  It pleased Him to rescue us from our guilt.

People will tell us that future reward is all pie in the sky when you die.  But the next life will be infinitely longer than this one.  But this isn’t just about future joy, this is also about the daily privilege of living for Jesus.  This is stake on the plate while you wait.

See the talents/bags of gold that Jesus has given you.  We live in a rich part of the world with many opportunities to invest in the kingdom.  We live in a free land where we can speak of Jesus without fear.  We have been taught God’s Word so we should know what to say.  We have great privilege and huge responsibility!

Jesus wants you to share His happiness (Matthew 25:14-30)

I got a strange look from a friend when I told her that I believed that God is emotionally complex.  I  didn’t mean it as an insult to God.  What I mean is that God’s emotions are beyond our understanding.  If I look inside a digital radio I can’t understand how it works, it is too complex for me, yet it works perfectly.  In the same way God’s perfect emotions are beyond my current comprehension.

In particular I can’t understand how God can hold together differing emotions at the same time.  He is both righteously angry and yet perfectly at peace.  He is infinite in love and yet expresses a holy hatred.  He grieves over the lost and yet it does not take away from His delight in those He has saved.

One emotion that we must not forget is God’s happiness.  He does all things well and that thrills His heart.  In His infinite kindness He wants us to share that happiness.  Look at what the master says in this parable: ‘Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Jesus will come back at the end of time and say, ‘Come and share my happiness!’  In fact, I think He wants us to experience some of that happiness now.

I am going to make four observations on what is often called the Parable of the Talents.

1.     Jesus wants us to love working for Him

The parable just before this one is the parable of the ten virgins.  There we were warned to be prepared for Jesus’ return.  But how can we be prepared to meet Jesus?  This Parable tells us.  We are prepared to meet the Lord as we produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8).  We wait for the Lord’s return not like we wait for a plane in an airport—bored and frustrated, but like an obedient child whose mother has said, ‘please, have the sitting room hovered by the time I get back.’

The only problem with saying that it is like the child with the sitting-room to hover is that I don’t know any children who would thing that hovering was much fun.  Yet the tasks that Jesus has commissioned us to should delight us.  Jesus isn’t trying to rob you of the pleasures of life, He has promised to give us life in all its fullness (John 10:10).  David Jeremiah says that ‘Christian joy is letting Christ live His life out through you so that what He is, you become.’

God wants you to take pleasure in Him.  There are few things less natural to our sinful nature than giving away money.  But He calls us to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Think of why giving might delight your heart.  In the next parable we will see Jesus teach that anything we give to the neediest of His people is treated as if it was given directly to Him.  Isn’t that an amazing privilege!  Don’t you know that He will more than repay you on the last day?  Think of giving to missionary work.  Those missionaries are now your partners.  You work with them in their ministry.  He will reward you for what He does through them.  That is a good investment!

I am thankful for your giving to this church, because it enables me to minister in preaching and teaching.  If I teach anything that helps those who listen remember that I did not work alone, I worked with your help God will reward you for that! 

2.     Jesus doesn’t ask for more than we can deliver

I need to be clear about this point.  I am not saying that Jesus won’t stretch us.  I am not even saying that Jesus won’t give you more than you can handle, if that refers to handling things in our own strength.  He will bring us to many places where we become aware of our utter need of Him.  But He also gives people according to their ability.  He won’t give you more or less than that.

When we think of talents, we tend to think of gifts and abilities.  But the talent that is used in this parable refers to a certain amount of wealth.  That is why the NIV uses the term ‘bags of gold’.  This talent was worth about twenty years wages.  The master has left the servants with great responsibility.

This picture of talents or ‘bags of gold’ can represent anything that can be invested in the kingdom.  It includes your money, but it also includes you time and opportunities.  Each of us have unique opportunities.  There are people you can love that I don’t even know.  God has placed us in our families, workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods for a reason.

Notice that He gives each according to their abilities.  He does not load us with responsibilities too great for us.  Myself and Caroline looked at going to Africa before we came to Limerick, but the mission agency we were talking with were more excited at the idea of keeping us at home.  I think that they may have realised that I have problems with my mental health and thought I could not take it.  I think they may have been right.  The strain might have been too much for me.  That responsibility was beyond my ability. 

However, I think we tend to underestimate our abilities.  Not because we think too little of ourselves, but because we don’t realise what God can do through imperfect and broken people.  Our problem is not that we are too humble, but that we lack faith.  We may not be very brave, but when the frightened Christians prayed in the book of Acts they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with courage (Acts 4:31).

Why not pray at the beginning of each day that God would open up doors for you to speak about Him.  Ask Him to direct your conversations and see what happens.  Be available and give Him the responsibility to lead you.

Also, remember that our lack of self-control, our impatience and our shallowness of love are nothing to do with our lack of abilities.  They simply remind us of a lack of dependence on the Holy Spirit to produce this fruit in us!

3.     Jesus loves to say ‘well done’

It is all of grace.  Anything we do is done in His strength.  He gives us our abilities.  He gives us the desire to serve Him (Phil. 2:13).  If there is any fruit to our labours it is produced by Him (1 Cor. 2:13).  But the fact that it is His work in us, rather than work alone, does not stop Him saying ‘well done’.  If I give one of my children twenty Euro to buy me a birthday present I am still delighted when they give me that gift.

The two faithful servants have different abilities and are given different talents, but they receive the same commendation: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will now put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Both produced a increase in proportion to the talents they had been given, both were rewarded with more responsibility.  It looks like the reward for hard work is more work.  But who can imagine what the joyous and satisfying work in the new creation might be.

It is not unhealthy to want to hear your master say ‘well done!’  Godly parents will say well done often, even though they can see the child’s efforts are far from perfect.  I don’t believe we need to wait until he returns to hear Jesus say ‘well done.’  I think He whispers ‘well done’ over all our imperfect efforts to please him.

4.     Jesus looks for current fruit rather than past experience.

Who is this unfaithful servant who ends up in hell?  They are not a real Christian, that’s for sure.  They are someone who took what was given to them and did nothing with it.  Remember that John the Baptist told us to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8).  No amount of good works can get you into God’s kingdom, but we show that we belong to Him as His love transforms us.

Also, notice that He has a terrible idea of who the master is.  Is our master really a hard man?  Jesus tells us that he is humble and lowly of heart.  There is no love in this man for his master.  It has been said that you become like the God you worship.  If you are becoming harsh and critical, could it be that you have forgotten that Jesus is gentle and gracious?

If this person lived among our evangelical churches, she would someone who once prayed a prayer of commitment to Jesus at a meeting, but little has changed in her life since.  Jesus looks for current fruit rather than past experience.

I do have one last application for our church.  Through the generous giving of this congregation and good financial management we have a very healthy bank account.  But that places a great responsibility on our shoulders.  That is money to be invested in the kingdom.  We need God to show us where and how.  Similarly, we have our own building, and many churches don’t, we want this building to be used by lots of fellowship through whom Jesus can build His church.

Conclusion—stake on the plate while you wait

‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few thongs; I will put you in change of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!’  This is the Christian’s pursuit of happiness, the promise of future joy!  In fact, Jesus lived for future joy.   Jesus went to the cross for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2).  It pleased Him to rescue us from our guilt.

People will tell us that future reward is all pie in the sky when you die.  But the next life will be infinitely longer than this one.  But this isn’t just about future joy, this is also about the daily privilege of living for Jesus.  This is stake on the plate while you wait.

See the talents/bags of gold that Jesus has given you.  We live in a rich part of the world with many opportunities to invest in the kingdom.  We live in a free land where we can speak of Jesus without fear.  We have been taught God’s Word so we should know what to say.  We have great privilege and huge responsibility!