Contentment in Godliness ( 1 Timothy 6:2b-10)

The science fiction writer Ron L Hubbard was famously quoted as saying, “You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.” And of course, that is what he did, he is the founder of the Church of Scientology.

It’s sad but in modern pop culture, in novels, movies and Tv shows, Christian evangelists are most often portrayed as simply in it for the money, or the sex. They usually end up the villains. What is even sadder is that we’ve given them good reason to form such an opinion: Christian leaders convicted of fraud and the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by celebrity pastors… the prosperity gospel which comes close to selling Christianity as a get rich quick ponsey scam.

These are some of the sort of things that Paul is helping Timothy to deal with in Ephesus, false teachers whom Paul says think ‘Godliness is a means to financial gain’, who are in it for the money and encouraging others to follow suite. Paul counters that by telling us “godliness with contentment is great gain in and of itself” and gives some general teaching on the dangers inherent in focusing on wanting to get rich, and in the section we will look at next week speaks about how that applies to those who already have wealth.

The examples I start with may seem to be far off and distant but the passage is of great relevance for us today, as we look to see what Paul has to say about maturity and ministry for us today. One of the great challenges for the church and Christianity in western society is assimilation into our consumer materialistic society, there is a tension between wanting what we are presented with as the good life and our God life. Our material comfort and our spiritual vitality. Our material possessions and our missional passions.  We are bombarded with advertising that tells us our wellbeing and happiness are dependent on acquiring this and that. Simply staying where we are now demands two incomes and the pressure that puts on family and time is intense. To be blunt it is the difference between “greed is good”, spoken with religious fervour as a defence for rampant capitalism by Michal Douglas’ character corporate raider Gordon gecko in the 1987 film ‘Wall Street’ and ‘God is Good’ an affirmation of trust from God’s people in times of plenty and in the face of abject poverty.

Let’s look at what Paul has to say and how it applies to us. It’s interesting but this final section of Paul’s letter mirrors the structure of the opening section.

Paul had told Timothy of his mission to Ephesus to counter the false teachers and here that is reinforced in verse2 by Paul saying to teach these things and insist on them, when he says that he is referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here Paul calls it sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and Godly teaching. The idea of Godliness in the pastoral epistles is that we live our life that reflects the God in whom we believe. It is faith that has its goal in love. That invisible vertical relationship with God worked out in Christ like love in our horizontal relationships with each other.

Remember Paul had told Timothy that the false teachers devoted themselves to myths and endless genealogies, promoting controversial speculation and meaningless talk. Here Paul reiterates that by telling Timothy that the false teachers had unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words. The contrast between the gospel and the false teaching is one is healthy and the other is not. Paul lists envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction as the unhealthy fruit of the false teachers, they are directly opposed to the fruit of the Holy Spirit produced by the sound teaching that Paul lists in Galatians 5;22 love, peace, joy, forbearance, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. The false teaching breaks down community, the healthy instruction of Jesus builds it up in love.

In the first section of his letter Paul had said that the false teachers had misunderstood the law, emphasising it over the grace of God shown in Jesus Christ; the false teachers have used it as a way for people to be put right with God, here Paul says the false teachers have misunderstood godliness, they see it as a means to financial gain. In Both the false teachers see them as ways to earn God’s blessing, rather than trusting in Gods grace to provide our spiritual and physical needs.  

At the start Paul counters that misunderstanding of the law by saying that when used properly it is to show us our need for God’s grace and mercy. Not to condemn us to hell, that is not God’s plan for anyone. Remember God’s desire is that all people are saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Here Paul says that there is great gain in godliness, but godliness with contentment, that God will provide our needs. It is not about financial gain but spiritual gain.

Paul moves away from the structure by now talking about the danger of focusing on wealth. He follows up his statement on Contentment with proverbial wisdom, he says well we bought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.  In Luke’s gospel Jesus tells the a parable which illustrates that. A farmer has an abundant crop and builds a bigger barn and hordes all he has, but just as he sits back to enjoy it he dies, and God calls him a fool. He had gained from what God had provided and lived his life without reference and reverence of God and what was it worth. Jesus concludes “This is how it will be for those who are store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God.”

He then states that if we have the basics of life we should be content with that, food and clothing. Now Paul here is not saying we should all live in poverty, he is not holding that up as an example for life. He is advocating what many people have called the simple life style.  What we often find ourselves wrestling with is the difference between needs and wants. One exercise which commentators suggest is simply sitting down and making a list what are our needs, food clothing housing etc and what are our wants. When Jesus taught us to pray the prayer was ‘give us today our daily food” not the Janice Joplin song ‘Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”. That song by the way was written as a rejection of consumerism.

Then Paul moves on t

o talk of the dangers of wanting to be rich. He speaks of a four-step process. That wealth can start as a temptation, nice things are nice, good things are good and they are not bad in and of themselves, but as Paul says they can be like the bait to a trap, we can want more and more and not satisfied, he sees the trap springing and those desires taking over, when Paul uses the word foolish it is talking of peoples focus moving from God to other things. They can lead to ruin and destruction… The Onceler from the Lorax by Dr Suess, written in the 1970’s about ecological issues, demonstrates this on a world scale… the Oncelers determination to get biggerer and biggerer, making more and more, consuming non-renewable natural resources with not thought for the future, ends with the natural resources depleted the sky and water polluted and the onceler all alone as his family had only been there for economic benefit and when it finished they moved on. In real life we could talk of crippling credit card debt or those who to feed gambling habits or a n addiction to a certain standard of living embezzle and cheat. The exploitation of immigrant workers, slave labour or sweated labour in third world countries so we can have reasonably priced goods.

Paul finishes this section with one of the most misquoted scriptures, that’s because of trouble translating from the Greek to the English, but as we had read from the NIV today ‘For the love of Money is a root of all kinds of evil. Paul concludes with the sad reflection that some eager for money have wandered from the faith and pieced themselves with many griefs. I’ve watched many of my contemporaries and some of the youth group members I’ve worked with not give up their faith as recant it, but simply it has simply stopped being important amidst the everyday demand of life, and making ends meet and getting a head.

So what does this say to us today.

Paul’s remedy to viewing life simply from financial terms is contentment. In Philippians 4 Paul thanks the church at Philippi for their gift and support, then he wants to differentiate himself from the false teachers who are in it for the money. By saying that he has learned the secret of being content in all situations, in times of plenty and when he is in prison or destitute, that secret is that he can do all things in Christ who strengthens him. The secret to contentment is to trust in God’s presence and provision. We don’t come into the world with it and we can’t take it with us, but God gives it and it and God are good.

I want to share two things that help with contentment. One is that Paul talks of the false teachers having an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that results in envy, the way to counter that for Paul was sound instruction of Jesus Christ and Godly living. We get bombarded by so many adverting’s  messages so many words and images, usually telling us that we are disadvantaged or poorer because we do not have this item or use that service.  You know I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that My life is not complete because I don’t go and get some hair growth treatment. Women have had body image exploited for years… right!. Women have been wrestling with it for years with body image right! We need to realise that the messages are unhealthy!  J V Taylor is his wonderful book ‘enough is enough’ says we need to start having a healthy cynicism to these advertising messages. His response is “who are you trying to fool”, the heart string pulling ad which triggers and emotional response to make us associate love and justice with that brand “ who are you trying to fool”, the luxurious and problem free life because of the right appliance “well who are you trying to fool!”. Along with that we need to have a healthy theology… Again Paul to the Philippians… My God will supply all my needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus… we counter it by our understanding of God, his goodness and his providence.    We counter it with identity... I am not a sum of what I consume, I’m not just a cog in the economy I’m a child of God, called not to simply consume but to commune with God, not to buy good new things but bring good news in what I say and how I live. That is the healthy teaching, the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ. It helps us set our priorities and be content.

The second thing is a simple way we can put that into action in our lives… to be thankful. It is a simple thing but it makes a world of difference. Paul talks of the false teachers brining envy and distance between people, I think if we are talking of the ten commandments it would be the sin of coveting.  We are not happy with our lot, we want what they have… But contentment is about being happy with what we have. The key way of doing that is to give thanks. To acknowledge all the good things God has given to us. Every good gift comes from God, as we’ll look at next week as Paul talks to those who are rich being thankful opens up the door to generosity. At the feeding of the five thousand Jesus asked his disciples what they had and when they gave him the little they had he gave thanks and was able to take it and feed the whole crowd with enough left over for later. God has given us so much we can share it with those in need. The reward is knowing how much God cares and shows his love and seeing him more and more in our lives and how his kingdom is able to expand through us.

The image that we’ve used for the service this week is a kingfisher. I took it out on a Monday walk on my day off. It was down on the waterfront of one of the suburbs along the Manukau harbour. The kingfisher was sitting on this rock, either waiting for the disturbance in the water that would show that with the high tide the small fish it lives off were coming close to shore in the shallows, or sitting in the sun with a full belly because it had already had its fill. If this photo has a soundtrack it would be the buzz of skill saws and the bang of nail guns as the old batches and 1950’s family homes along the landward side of the domain were being transformed into larger and more palatial properties, it’s the sound track of urban renewal. The wild life wasn’t phased by this. The kingfisher sat on his rock content and happy. The only thing that seemed to disturb it as this rather dishevelled man creeping up it with a zoom lens. It flew away after the click of my shutter. But in the Sermon on the mount Jesus invites us to consider the birds of the air… they don’t sow or reap but God is able to feed them…how much more precious are you to God than they are. So don’t worry be content God can provide your needs and put first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

A short ANZAC address at a retirement village(Isaiah 2:3-5, John 10:11-18)

I was invited to take an ANZAC day service at a local retirement village care facility. 

It is hard to know how to speak at ANZAC day. I have always been drawn to stories of daring, courage and bravery. War stories of men and women who have put them selves in harms way and made the ultimate sacrifice for what they believe in, for the sake of country out of duty, and for an over-arching hope and vision of peace when conflict and tyranny has been opposed and defeated. 

But at the same time I am aware of the great cost and tragedy. Death and the pain and sorrow and suffering that those who serve in war and armed conflict and experience war suffer. There are not many of us who it has not touched. I was born in 1963 which makes me the last of the baby bom generation, those whose parents served in world war two, both my father and mother served during that war. My father in the Airforce and my mother as a WAAF, neither saw action.  I have a grandfather, whom I never met who was wounded at Passchendaele, on that darkest of day for New Zealand troops.  I have an uncle who both received a field promotion and was injured and invalided home at the battle of El Alamein in 1942. In a parish I served in in Tauranga one of the men who came back from world war two always told his wife he had been overseas during the war and had seen enough and simply wanted to stay home. It was only towards the end of his life he talked of being in the artillery and knowing that every time he pulled the rope and fired his weapon that it meant death and destruction and it still hurt and haunted him. Another acquaintance was a child during the blitz in London and is instantly transported back to that time when she hears the thunder and lightning on a stormy night.  For many of you the people and the scares are closer.  Our returned service men and women from modern battlefields speak of wounds that don’t bled and the deep scares within them.

The passage from Isaiah speaks of the hope of peace and prosperity and justice and righteousness that the reign of God would bring to our hurting and suffering world. A hope for the end of war and its practise fading from memory. Our Gospel reading speaks of the great sacrificial love  that Jesus showed by laying down his life for his sheep.  A gospel hope for peace with God and the reconciliation of human beings together in the Kingdom of God. Today we remember a similar sacrifice and hold a similar hope. We remember the sacrifice of those who died in war and in the process peace keeping and we say that we will not forget them. Maybe the best way to do that is the work of peace. Peace at a personal level as we forgive one another and look to love one another as Christ loved us. On a community level as we seek to resolve conflict, injustice and oppression with compassion and commitment to justice.  On a societal scale as we are willing to speak and act to resolve and to mend, to reconcile and come together. So our children will not know the pain and sorrow that our parents and grandparents have known.

Maturity and Ministry in Practical Pastoral Concerns ( 1 Timothy 5:1-6:2)

Old white men need to step aside…Sexual harassment of women law students, and the me too movement…people claiming benefits they are not entitled to …The retirement of the baby boom generation and how that will stretch superannuation…Person appeals sacking because the correct complaints procedure was not followed…Who is fit to lead…Exploitation of immigrant work force and human trafficking… They are the kind of things you’d find in the headlines of our papers and news feeds today. They are some of the issues that we face as a community and a country. Yet they also are very much the kind of issues that Paul is helping Timothy and the Church at Ephesus to deal with and he offers some very practical advice which is still helpful and relevant for us today.

We are working through what are called the Pastoral Epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, letters Paul write to co-workers and fellow leaders working in difficult pastoral situations. We are looking at them to see what Paul has to say to us about church leadership, about maturity and ministry within the household of God. This week Paul gives some very practical and sage advise. It’s not totally easy to simply transfer to our own time and place… as one commentator says “sorting out widows was not only a pastoral burden in the early church, it has also proved to be an exegetical one for modern commentators”. In other words, it is a hard passage to understand, interpret and apply.

In the pastoral epistles Paul’s overriding metaphor for the church is the household of God. It was appropriate as most if not all members of the church and society were structured in households, and Churches met in people’s households, not in church buildings, so it was obvious and applicable. Church leaders were called elders, like they were family or household heads, there were slaves and masters, people of different generations, men and women, young and old. So when talks of issues to do with pastoral care and pastoral concern it reflects that structure.

The first two verse we had read out to us today reflect that, Paul gives Timothy advice on how to relate to people of different age and gender, so he uses the idea of family to explain it. You’ll remember from last week that Timothy was younger than a lot of the people and leaders in the church and this was an issue Paul gives him instruction about overcoming. Now Paul gives him the correct posture and tone to adopt as he goes about his ministry of teaching and preaching. To the older men he is not to rebuke them harshly, rather he is relate to them as he would his own Father, the word he uses then is exhort, it has the idea of persuasion rather than command. He is to treat younger men as his brother, if you remember from Psalm 133 the idea of brothers living together in harmony is the image used for God’s people having unity. He is to relate to older women as he might to his mother. There is the undertone of respect and care and honour. Finally, Paul says when it comes to younger women he is to see them as sisters, there is an added clause with absolute purity. Recently young women have been speaking up about how they have been mistreated and sexually harassed or worse in the work place education and sadly some of them in churches, here Paul is very clear and serious about the fact that the church should be a safe place, where hey are treated as sisters. It sets a good pattern for all of us in showing honour and dignity to one another.

In some cultures that attitude to older people is very strong. When I worked at the university I was organizing an event with an Asian Christian organization and I started to speak and sort of got off track with a long drawn out story, half way through I thought this must be a very profound thing I’m saying because everyone was silent and intensely listening… then I twigged… and said this is an age thing isn’t it… everyone gave me a rather embarrassed smile and I said OK and we got back on track… so lets get back on track again.

Paul then takes some time to work through how to care for the widows in the church. The number of widows in the church community and city was a major issue in the first century, life expectancy was short and a women’s well being was embedded in her relationship to a man. Either her father, her husband or her children. Men’s life expectancy was far shorter than a woman’s.  In Acts 6 we see one of the first conflicts in the church was over the care of widows, making sure that the Hellenistic, with a Greek background and Judean widows were treated equally. The issue at Ephesus is working our who are the real widows in need. So Paul goes through a whole series of different scenarios to help Timothy in that process. Age, their own resources, life style, and the ability of family to look after them. The primary care for widows in Jewish and roman society was their sons, or  other close relatives, and the church would take that role for those who didn’t have that. In fact Paul is very careful to insist that families take responsibility for their widows as he does not want to see the level of are for the widows be less than the pagans, because they can leave it to the church, maybe in our day the state.

Commentators wonder about putting people on the list, and it seems that older widows were cared for, but also given a role to play in the pastoral care of others in the church. Not only was the church their to care for them as their household, but they gave widows purpose like they would find in a household, Paul goes through some of those bringing up children, hospitality, washing the feet is probably more to d with service and care rather than just actual foot washing, caring for the poor and other practical things. There is some discussion that this may have been a position like a woman elder, set aside to minister within the church. So there is not only the need to belong and be cared for but to contribute.  Paul’s teaching about younger widows wanting to get married again, is that yes that is a good idea for them, but it would be hard for them to commit themselves to the life of service in the church and then have to give that up for being in their husband’s household.

Paul also talks of widows making choices about what they do with their lives as well, and seeing that people like Anna in Luke’s gospel who was living in the temple and dedicated herself to prayer, and is the first person to really witness to Jesus Christ. Widows are warned against following a life of ease and luxury and Paul is very aware that benefit dependency can be a danger. He ells of widows who have been lost their faith because of some of them.

For us dealing with similar issues of need what Paul does with the widows is helpful. He firstly assesses the need. He looks to see what societal help is available, in his day it was the family, and wider whanau, and we need to be asking the same questions today, but in our day there are also state welfare agencies and aid. While it is not popular to talk about it, Paul also mentions, personal responsibility, church care and aid is not simply to help people carry on a lifestyle that is contra to the gospel.

Paul then moves to look at how to treat those who are elders in the church. Those who have the responsibility for administering and preaching and teaching in the church. The household heads as it were. He says three things. He tells timothy they are worthy of being honoured, which when Paul was speaking of the widows had the idea of care and support. People who devote their time in leading are worthy of being paid, particularly those who take on the role of teaching and preaching. He uses a saying from the Old Testament which originally had to do with animal care  ‘do not muzzle the Ox while it treading grain” from Deuteronomy 25:4 which he also then links with the words of Jesus in Luke’s gospel “a workmen is worth of his pay”. In the Old testament the Levites set themselves aside to minister to God and the people in the temple, that was their inheritance and they didn’t have large blocks of land to farm,  and so were  cared for and provided for by the people.

Earlier In 1 Timothy 3:3 Paul had warned against those who tried to make a profit from their teaching  and elsewhere in scripture there are warnings against greed. But Paul is encouraging Timothy and the Church to make sure those who minister in leadership are recompensed. In the Presbyterian church we are helped by that in that the minister living allowance, what we call the stipend is set nationally and is connected to the average wage in New Zealand and yes housing is also provided, or an allowance equivalent.

Paul also sets out a procedure for dealing with complaints against elders. There is a process of natural justice to be followed. In this case Paul follows the Jewish tradition that you need more than one witness to bring the charge, and they are to be admonished in public without any favouritism. I’ve been on a couple of commissions which is the way that our church deals with such issues, and can I say it is a difficult and strenuous process working through such complaints. I really valued the prayers of the elders and prayer team here at St Peter’s during that time. But is important as we are seeing in industry and entertainment that leaders and people in power are held accountable and that there is a rigorous and fair process. Inside the church as well as outside. We serve a God of Justice and we need to act justly.

Paul then goes on to tell Timothy not to be quick to lay hands on people, and this has to do with ordaining people and setting them aside for roles and offices, rather than simply praying for them. AS we saw with the book of Titus and also earlier in this book there is a process to go through to appoint people to leadership as well. The Presbyterian church has a very long and drawn out process to test the call of those who put their names forward for ministry, likewise we have a system for appointing elders which allows for people to bring up concerns and issues before we ordain someone.

It seems strange right in the middle of all this Paul should then give Timothy some teaching on his drinking habits. It maybe that Timothy was concerned about the aestheticism of some of the false teachers and so was drinking only water, which in first century times wasn’t as safe as it is today, so Paul tells him to have some wine for his health. Likewise it may have been he was staying teetotal to avoid the danger he saw with some in the church of abuse of alcohol. David Stewart was the principle of the Bible college when Kris and I were there, and he told us of being a missionary in china and seeing some of the local Christian’s watch the European missionaries from France an d Germany drink wine with dinner, and the Chinese followed suit and became alcoholics, so David Stewart, vowed to be teetotal as not to have the same thing happen to anyone around him. The section gets covered off with Paul’s assertion that peoples good deed and bad deeds will all come to light eventually, it’s a way of rounding off a section where he has talked of the character of leaders.

Finally, in this section Paul turns to deal with the master slave relationship. Remember in the church was one of the only places where slave owners and salves would have come together on equal terms socially. He commands the slaves to show honour and respect to their owners. For those whose masters are non-Christians it is so they will be able to show them by their service about their faith in Jesus Christ. The church was in danger of being seen as an institution that as opposed to order in society and as such would suffer persecution. He tells slaves with believing masters to be even more diligent because they are fellow believers and in a way of telling the masters how to behave says they are devoting themselves to their slave well being. While we don’t live in a society that endorses slavery anymore, there is a lot to say to us here about Christian employees and employers, that both should be committed to the well being of the other, to work for the employers good and to work at seeing your employees are treated well.

This passage may seem a bit dry a bit like implementing legislation and processes and best practises. But it takes the ideas of faith and love that Paul had been talking of to Timothy and brings them down to the nuts and bolts of relationships and dealing with pastoral concerns and issues. It helps us as a community in working through those things together in a just and caring manner, sometimes its easy for people to feel put upon by others and in what Paul says here are guidelines and boundaries and ways for us to both care and to know where to refer and to draw the line. To deal with being wronged by church leaders even. That’s not easy for people who want to share the grace and love of Christ  to do so like young Timothy we benefit from Paul’s practical words and helps us to relate to each other in God’s household. It’s our faith and love in practical action and that is Good News.

Maturity and Ministry at All Ages (1 Timothy 4:11-16)

Having been involved in youth ministry for many years, I’ve heard the passage we had read out to us today from 1 Timothy often used to encourage young people to step up to leadership and ministry in the church and the world.  There are times in church history where Christianity has threatened to, die out with a particular generation, at other times the church has been renewed and become a vibrant youth movement and people tend to forget the tender age of those who have lead that renewal, I’ve only seen images of the great preacher Charles Spurgeon as an old man with a beard, however he was filling his church in London to overflow at the age of eighteen. John Calvin had written his famous systematic theology the Institutes and was the leader of the reformation in French speaking Europe at the age of twenty-five.

Maybe because I’m advancing in years, I am also encouraged by a list that Leonard sweet uses in his book ‘Soulsalsa’ of people who produced most of their best work when they were older. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Fallingwater house when he was sixty-nine, and the Guggenheim Museum when he was seventy-six and was most productive between eighty and his death at ninety-three. Cecil B DeMille produced his most famous film ‘the ten commandments’ at seventy-five. Michelangelo was appointed chief architect of St peter’s in Rome at age seventy-one. You just have to listen to sage words of Pope Francis, or the wisdom and grace of nelson Mandela, and the way in which the love and compassion of mother Theresa have been valued in the world to realise the contribution of older generations.

So as we come to this passage today I want to look at what it has to say to people of all ages about how we can provide leadership in the church. To see what it has to say about Maturity and ministry at all ages.

Paul is writing to Timothy whom he has sent to Ephesus to correct the effect of false teachers in the church there.  Paul’s letter is to both give Timothy instruction as to what to teach, but also to encourage him in that ministry and to add the weight of Paul’s apostleship to Timothy’s work as well. Part of the issue is that Timothy is younger than Paul, and the elders and false teachers at Ephesus. While the word in Greek which we translate young does not equate with Timothy being what we would call a youth, he is younger. In many cultures age is a major issue. In some cultures how you address someone and interact with them is dependant on weather you are older or younger than they are.

What Paul has to say on how Timothy is to handle that is relevant for people of all ages and stages of life.

The first is that Paul encourages Timothy not to let people look down at him, or put him down because of his age. Rather to invite them to look up to him as an example and model for the believers.  It is not age that matters but maturity in Christ.

Paul uses five categories that Timothy is to show his maturity in. speech, what he says and how he says it. This week at the common wealth games we’ve seen a prime example of this. When the New Zealanders won Gold and silver in the commonwealth games men’s mountain biking cross country and that victory and achievement was soured by the eventual winners display of bad sportsmanship. Love and faith again are central to Paul’s understanding of the Christian life, faith speaks of that relationship with God, and love in its outworking in relationship to others. Purity is talking about how Timothy handles his sex life. We are all to aware of how important ethical behaviour is in that area of life.

This week marked not only the 50^th anniversary of the sinking f the whahine in wellington harbour, but also the sinking of the titanic in 1912. The Titanic was said to be unsinkable because it was constructed with fourteen watertight bulkheads down the length of the ship. Four of those compartments could flood and it would stay afloat. It was originally thought that the impact with the iceberg had ripped a long gash in the side of the ship and flooded five of those compartments. However when the wreck was found on the sea bed  in 1985, it was discovered that the impact with the iceberg had damaged only one of those compartments. But that was enough to cause the flooding of all the rest. We can try and compartmentalise our life, but if we don’t have integrity in all areas of our lives then issues in one area can impact all the rest. PAUl’s comprehensive list here is  a call for integrity in all areas of life. 

Paul goes on to tell Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of scriptures, to preaching and to teaching. This is the ministry that Timothy has been called to. Before we look at that, it is also goo to look at it as both, a commitment to public worship, in our reformed tradition the reading of the word and the preaching of the word and teaching are the central elements of our worship. All that goes before is designed to prepare us to hear the word read and preached, and what goes after is designed to help us to respond to the word. So it speaks to us about continuing to be involved in public worship, it becomes a priority in our lives, part of our regular routine of acknowledging God in a non-Christian world, pushing back at the worlds encroachment on our time for family and faith. 

It can also speak to us about our devotional life. In the Old Testament days and Paul’s time public reading of the scriptures was often the only way people had of hearing them. With the invention of the printing press, mass media and the internet etc, and the rise of literacy we have unprecedented access to the scriptures, as well as devotional, and teaching material to go along with it. Part of that setting an example is devoting ourselves to the scriptures and allowing the Holy spirit to use it to speak into our lives and bring transformation and new creation.

But Paul is here commanding Timothy to keep at the ministry that he had been called to, this passage is also often quoted at Ordinations, because Timothy is being called to a public preaching and teaching ministry. This is the chief way he going to co bat false teaching by expounding the truth and living it out. Talking the talk and walking the walk. Paul in this section is encouraging him to do that with authority to command and teach these things’, both the things Paul mentions in this book but the apostolic teaching of the gospel. But this equally applies to all of us. We are called to various kinds of ministry in the church and it is as we serve and are prepared to do the things God has called us to that we show others that example of the faith. Young or old or somewhere in between.  We are Christs body and we are all to play a part.

T

hat moves on to Paul reminding Timothy to not neglect the gift he has been given to you through prophecy and by the laying on of hands. Timothy has been endowed with a gift by the Holy spirit, which was both testified to by God and was affirmed by the church leadership, he is to use that to glorify God and edify others. We set an example whatever stage of life we are at when we take the risk to use the gifts that God has given us. We just ran the Network course and about eight people went through it and it was interesting as we discovered giftings and looked at how that matched up to what we were doing in the church. We are still working through what that means for each of the people on the course.

Then Paul finishes by commanding Timothy to work diligently at these things. Last week we saw how Paul used the metaphor of an athlete training to speak of us training for godliness, to live a life that reflects the God whom we believe in. Paul reuses that metaphor here and you see the idea of  Timothy putting that effort in like an athlete puts effort into their sport. We have this faith and love again when Paul says watch your life and doctrine closely. No we might think that setting an example is about perfectionism, reaching the summit, however Paul is more realistic, he says that we work at it so that people may see your progress. While we’ve been at St Peter’s Isaac has gone from a child and boy to a gangly youth/teenager, and often when we are together people will comment on how much he has grown, they look to see if he is taller than me now, I’ll have to stand up straight to ensure that I haven’t been passed yet. People see his progress towards manhood. You kids might hate bringing home report cards from school, but as a parent I appreciate being able to see your progress, and know where I can affirm where you’ve achieved and encourage you in areas that you need to be encouraged about. It is the same with us as Christians it is good to see how people develop and grow. For your children when your faith becomes their faith, in teenage years and in young adult hood they own heir own faith. It’s not always an easy journey. As someone who is in my fifties and been a Christian for forty years, its encouraging to hear people older in the faith than me and who have been through my life stage speak of how they are still growing and learning. It’s wonderful and important that we share what God is doing in our lives with one another. It’s also as we share our struggles and where we meet God in them that we can help each other.

As we do this says Paul not only will we save ourselves, we will save our hearers and those who look on. That is a difficult phrase to comprehend. Paul is not talking about earning our salvation here, that is always and only through the grace and life of Jesus Christ, his death and his resurrection. In Philippians 2: 13 Paul talks of working out our salvation with fear and trembling, it is the ongoing process of working out in our lives what it means for us to be saved by grace. In the context of Paul’s letter to Timothy it is also in holding strong to the faith in the face of opposition and false teaching that would try and drag us away. Also as in what we say and do we point towards Christ people will see and hear that and the Holy Spirit will use it to draw people to Christ. Our mission statement at St peter’s puts it like this, that we might grow as followers of Jesus and inspire others to join us on the journey.

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aul identifying age as an issue in the church at Ephesus is also helpful for us. Intergenerational conflict is one of the main dividers in churches. Music, formality v informality, how children should behave in church, expectations on time, what is important and permanent and what is transitory and changeable, who gets to decide are all often generational things. In my first parish one of our elders a retired farmers wife in her eighties, spoke about the fact that ministers always seemed to be old, until a friend and contemporary of hers left his job as a high school principle and trained as an ordained minister and served at that church. Her experience of church changed, the minister was now a friend and they were really in sync, he met all their expectations as a minister. She stopped talking so I asked the obvious question what it like was having a minister the age of your children. After a silence she said Oh Howard we don’t think of you like that we see you as old… There was much laughter and a little embarrassment for me. But nearly all the conflicts we had in that church were over generational approaches to things. It didn’t help that the Pentecostal church down the road had a leadership team with the same last names as our church, as they were the children of the elder who had moved because things were not going to change.

Very quickly Paul gives us some insights into how to deal with these conflicts. The first is to recognise the faith in people of a different generation, sometimes that’s not all that easy as we have learned to express it in different ways. We need to recognise and affirm the gifts we see in each other. The older to the younger. There is a need also for one generation to be willing to graciously allow the another to take on leadership and lead in their way. Often failure to be willing to let go of power results in leadership simply going elsewhere. But also for those being asked to take on  leadership to have the wisdom to listen and to hear from those who have gone before them, like Timothy listens to paul.   We need also to affirm and acknowledge when we see progress in each other’s lives.  Not just as we see someone grow taller but maybe as we see the way they react and interact with others, and as we are willing to share what God is doing in our lives.

So to conclude, Paul’s message to Timothy is for us all regardless of age. Do not let people put you down because of your age, rather set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Devote yourselves to the reading and preaching and teaching of the word. Do not neglect the gift God has given to you, allow God to identify those things and serve, allow the church to affirm them and do the same for others, be diligent in these matters, watch your life and doctrine, because not only will you save yourself but your hearer as well.  

Training for Godly Living in the face of False Teaching ( 1 Timothy 3:14-4:10)

If you are a sports fan it’s been a great time over the past month or so. We’ve had the winter Olympics from Korea, the cricket season has come to a tense and exciting end at the same time (unless you are a Blues fan) that the super rugby season and league have started off with New Zealand teams doing well. Go the warriors. There was the Parker v. Joshua world heavy weight championship fight, with all its build up and hype, now the commonwealth games over on the gold coast, everyone’s a bit bleary eyed as we are watching that great plethora of different sports and great athletes, celebrating Kiwi success and having to put up with hearing the Australian national anthem a little to much for our liking.

We see in points on the league table, rare series wins over England, unanimous points decisions meaning  millions in prize money and podium finishes with medals awarded the benefits of all the physical training that goes into these achievements.  We rightly applaud the athletes.

Paul in the passage we had read out to us this morning says that physical training is of some value… and when he says that it’s almost as if I feel him turning from his writing to look straight at me… or maybe it’s the Holy Spirit… double underlining it… but says Paul because of the hope we have in our living God, who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe we should pursue  training in Godliness more: lives that reflect the God in whom we believe.

For the last few weeks we’ve taken a break from our journey through 1 Timothy to celebrate Easter. Now we are moving back into it. It’s part of a larger series we’ve been doing looking at the pastoral epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon) that Paul wrote to other Church leaders wrestling with difficult pastoral situations, encouraging them in their ministry and Christian walk. In that we are hoping to see what the spirit has to say to us today about leadership, about maturity and ministry.

The passage we had read out to us today, is in three sections. The first is like the central message of the letter, it splits the book in half. It’s Pauls summary of all that has gone before about Christian behaviour in worship and prayer, and the character of Christian leaders. And it sets the scene for the rest of the book as Paul goes on to give instruction of how to deal with the false teachers which threatens the mission of the church. In the second section Paul, deals directly with some of the false teaching. Then he moves on to give Timothy instruction on how he is to counter that teaching.

The opening verse is great in helping us set the scene, Paul is travelling and he has sent Timothy to the church in Ephesus to deal with the problem of false teachers in the church there. The wider consequence of dealing with that issue is that the Church, which is the household of God, would act in a way that reflected the basis of their faith. Paul uses a hymn to express the mystery of what is the source of true Godliness. It is a hymn that focuses on the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ.

The lyrics start by talking of Christ appearing in the flesh, with the incarnation, there is a sense that in saying that he appeared that the song acknowledged the pre-existence of Christ, with God in eternity. It may seem strange to us that there is no mention of the crucifixion directly in this song, but when Jesus appeared in the flesh, there is a sense that this covers his earthly life and ministry which climaxes in his death on the cross. it speaks of Jesus life and ministry that we have a record of from those who were eye witnesses.  In the beginning of chapter 2 Paul had talked of the man Jesus Christ, who was the one mediator between God and humanity who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

The second line talks of Jesus being vindicated by the Spirit. Vindicated speaks of being found innocent and exonerated. It points us to the resurrection, God witnesses to Jesus Christ by raising him to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. The final witness to who Jesus Christ is the empty tomb.

Was seen by angels, is also difficult to understand, and we are dealing with lyrics we are dealing with poetry. Some have seen this as speaking of those humans who saw and witnessed the risen Jesus, as angel means messenger, but as Paul will be going on to wrestle with a false understanding of the difference between the physical and the spiritual, we see that it is important for him to point to both the spiritual and human responses to Jesus. We read of angels proclaiming the good news of Christ’s birth to the shepherds in Luke’s gospel, the angel at the tomb that we had in marks gospel who knew Jesus had risen, of course in angelic worship of Jesus is very much in the scripture like in the book of revelation, with the living creatures, the angels and the elders worshipping at the throne.

Then the lyrics go on to tell of the continuing ministry and mission of Jesus, he was preached amongst the nations, and the people in the nations believed in the world. We have Jesus ministry continuing through the preaching of the gospel and changing lives.

Finally, he is taken up into Glory. While this does not fit the ascension chronologically, the song and Paul gather together both the ascension and the future fulfilment of Jesus glory when he will return, again this time in glory. So in this song we have the great mystery of the whole work of Jesus Christ his incarnation, his resurrection, his being preached and believed in and being raised to the right hand of the Father. This is the story which forms the basis of our lives, that is the source of Godly living. Paul had talked of God’s work which is by faith resulting in love. The song expresses that vertical reality of our relationship with God through Christ and he sees it as the source of true Godliness vertically living it out in love.

Paul goes on to contrast that with the false teaching. We have it explained in spiritual terms and human physical terms. There teaching does have a spiritual element, but it does not come from God, it is from deceiving spirits and the demonic. It is anti-Christ, in the case of Ephesus it moves away from the person of Jesus, what he has done for us and his mission in the world to what we do. The church and the gospel are always going to be under attack from the spiritual forces that oppose Christ, who want to hold humanity captive in sin and death. But Paul is quick to note that there is human complicity, here Paul talks of hypocritical liars and those whose consciences have been seared over like a hot iron. In the first century there were people who would travel from place to place and make a living off others peddling their philosophical and theological thoughts and plan and systems for profit, many of them deliberately willing to mislead people for the sake of making money. Here Paul likens the false teachers to these people. Maybe today you just need to look in the newspaper and online and see people advertising this new age spiritual thing or that some even speaking of Jesus without as Paul has said focusing on the life and apostolic faith about Jesus.

I had a friend write me recently concerned about another friend who was getting into the writings of a womenwho claimed to be a medium channelled Jesus, she’d written a book where she says Jesus speaks through her, where he denies the crucifixion and the resurrection, talks of his time in India, learning yoga, and tantric sex, which he practises with his wife Mary Magdalene. She says, he says, that the gospels were false and couldn’t be relied upon. Many people are into this and of course buying her six books, you have to buy all six, and there is no historical basis to it, it steps fully away from historical evidence and Jesus claims to being the son of God to a claim simply channelling a spirit. Forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God are replaced with individual enlightenment. Spiritualists think they are speaking with the spirits of the dead but they are deceived and in contact with deceptive spirits and demons. 

Paul says in Ephesus the focus of the false teaching is not on Christ but on a form of asceticism, where people are forbidden to marry and they are commanded to abstain from certain food. The focus moves away from doing what Christ has said to other practises. Forbidding people to marry may mean not just young people but also doing away with marriage for those who are married. In Corinth, one of the factions believed that the resurrection had already come and so we were spiritual beings now and sex and marriage and gender markers were no longer relevant to Christians. The food laws could connected with Paul’s talk of myths and genealogies may point to the fact that they also had a warped sense of the Jewish food laws. By the second century one of the major heresies in the church was Gnosticism, which had a false dualism between the spiritual and the physical. It saw the physical as shameful and little importance, and the spiritual as important. So much so that they could not see God having anything to do with creating a material world, so built a series of intermediaries in their teaching between God and the world, almost a pantheism of demi-gods. Maybe there is the start of that in what is happening in Ephesus.

Paul's response is to go back to genesis narrative and acknowledge that God made all things good that marriage and sex inside of marriage and food are gifts from God for humanity. They are good and should be welcomed and enjoyed with thanksgiving.  He finishes the paragraph by saying it is consecrated, through the word, God has told us it is good, and through prayer, we have acknowledged God’s goodness in it.

Paul turns to give instruction to Timothy on how to counter these teaching and help the church to be godly he continues to use that by likening the Christian life to the physical training of the athlete.  To be a good minister of Jesus says Paul, hold fast to the truth of the faith, in the Jesus story, not the godless tails of the false teachers. Using the same analogy of an Olympic athlete the writer to Hebrews says ‘et us run the race before us, with our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. When you listen to interviews with athletes they will talk of the goals they have set themselves that have driven them and sustained them through the hours of training and practise. For us that is because we have put our hope in he living God, who is the savior of all people. While physical training is of value, paul says that training in godliness is of eternal value. When I heard that I couldn’t help but think of the matra of the current All black coaching staff that good people make good all blacks, great people make great all blacks, even sports people are realising the surpassing importance of character and substance.

Sadly Paul does not set out for us a training regime in his letter. It would have been good if he did, and we could talk of spiritual practises and exercises and routines that help us to develop. But in this passage we have one specifically mentioned. Thanksgiving, recognising and acknowledging all the good things that God has done for us. From the food we eat to if you are married your spouse, they are a gift from God, but also with the inclusion of that song at the heart of his letter, thanksgiving for what Christ has done for us. It is living that gratitude for God’s love and Christ’s forgiveness and new life, and the Holy spirits presence that motivates and compels us to listen to Jesus and to do what he has said and to respond to that love with love for others. We sang rend collectives ‘counting every blessing in our service today, and it highlights the spiritual discipline of acknowledging all God has done for us, to help focus us on God’s goodness even when we are going through difficulties. Maybe we have things the wrong way when we think of blessings and difficulties, we think the difficulties are the  things there first, and God’s blessings counter them but in my devotions this week I read a comment from Bishop Sandy Millar that No Blessing goes uncontested, god’s blessings are there first, Gods provision, God’s presence, God’s love shown through Jesus Christ, God’s forgiveness, God’s enabling and empowering, giving thanks allows us to see that clearly.

Paul’s instructions to Timothy tell us living a godly life, springs out of the Jesus story: his life, his death his resurrection and his ongoing mission. That that is the best remedy for falsehood and false teaching. It is the gospel truth believed and expressed: a life where our faith, results in love. It’s not easy, Paul finishes by talking about labour and striving, just like athletes do to achieve the prize and goals they set themselves and that we honour them for. They set goals for physical achievement but we have placed our hope in the living God, who is the saviour of all people, remember Paul had talked of God’s desire that all be saved and especially of those who believe, that results in eternal reward and us hearing “well done good and faithful servant" from the one who was taken up into glory.

Easter Sunday Prayer

Loving God

We join your people all over the world

To proclaim the wonderful news; “He is risen”

We join as brothers and sisters in this land and place

To witness to the new life we have in you

We come together this morning to give you praise

For who you are and what you have done

You sent Jesus Christ into the world to seek and save the lost

In His life and teaching we hear the truth of your Kingdom

On the cross, Jesus paid the price for what we have done wrong

and we can be forgiven and reconciled to God as our Father

In Christ raise to life again, sin and death has lost it’s sting

And we are created anew and can have full and eternal life in you.

You have sent the promised Holy Spirit, as Christ said you would

You dwell within us to lead and to guide, enable and empower

You have drawn us together to be your body in the world

United us with the same hope, the same faith, the same love

We confess that we have done wrong, and ask that you would forgive us

We acknowledged we have left good undone, and ask you to forgive us

In Christ who died and is risen again we know your mercy and grace,

We know You are faithful and just and we are forgiven and made clean

Fill us afresh with you Holy Spirit, O Lord, to be your witnesses

To proclaim “he is risen’ to the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

An Empty Tomb and Reluctant Witnesses ( Mark 16:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

On Easter Sunday we have a combined service with the Antioch Korean church which also use our church buildings on Sunday. The service is done in Korean and English and also as St Peter's is a multi cultural congregation, we had the words for the call to worship, the Lord's Prayer and the Blessing in Maori, Samoan and Tongan  and people were encouraged to use which ever language was closest to their heart.  We had hoped for more languages but many of our families chose to celebrate Easter in a very Kiwi way by going away for the last holiday weekend before winter. for the Third time ever I preached in English and was translated into Korean, this time by Pastor James Park from Antioch Korean church...(I've simply posted the English version and then the English Korean interlinear after it).  All these languages on Easter Sunday reminds us of how important the message of the empty tomb is and how important for the whole world that we are willing to witness to the fact that "he is risen, He is risen indeed). 

The Gospel of Mark reads very much like a mystery story. Mark starts by telling us that this is the beginning of the good news about Jesus the messiah and the Son of God… then in his fast paced telling of Jesus ministry and life, from his baptism by john to his crucifixion, you are invited to explore the question ‘who is Jesus?’ for yourself.  We along with the disciples and the crowd round Jesus are amazed and astounded at what Jesus says and does.  Who is this Jesus? What does it mean that he is the messiah, and the son of God?

That comes to a crescendo and a climax at the crucifixion, with the declaration of the Roman centurion. If you were to think of the gospel in cinematic terms, like a movie, the centurion stares in to the camera lens and locks eyes with us, what movie makers call breaking the fourth wall, and says “surely this was the son of God!” if the centurion can come to that conclusion on simply the scene at the cross, then what is our conclusion as we have walked with Jesus through the gospel.

The burial of Jesus and the actions of the women who had followed him and witnessed his death might then feel like a postscript a way to round out the story. Except the story does not end there and we are presented with one more amazing witness to who Jesus is, an empty tomb… and the amazing news about what that means…“Don’t be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” 

Three women who had been close to Jesus, had waited out the uneasy rest and inactivity of the Sabbath, and now at the first light of the first day of the week they set off to finish the task of preparing Jesus Body. Normally this would have been done before the burial, but we are told that as the day was ending, and it was Sabbath the next day they had only been able to do the bare minimum for him.

There is a sense that they are driven by both devotion; wanting to do the right thing for the one who had done so much for them, and grief; that they have lost the one who was so important to them. That sense of grief comes to the fore as it is only as they are coming with their spices to the tomb, that they start to think who will roll the stone away for us. Tomb’s were sealed with large stones to stop them being opened and reused illegally by other people.

There is no expectation for these women other than that Jesus is dead and they find themselves in the hopeless situation of what to do with the stone.  We are invited to share in the surprise of the women, they were not expecting that. They go in Jesus body is not there. They encounter rather a young man dressed in white. For Mark’s first century Jewish readers this would have told them he was an angel, but that is downplayed to emphasise his amazing news. ‘Jesus the Nazarene is risen he is not here!’

The women are invited to see the place where they laid him! Then go and tell the disciples and Peter, ‘he is going ahead of you into galilee. There you will see him Just as he told you.”

Mark does not mention the earthquake or the angels rolling the stone away, he wants to focus on the facts. None of the gospels tell us the how of the resurrection happened, which is the one thing I guess our twenty first century minds would love to know, we are simply left to see the stone rolled away and the empty tomb as an act of God. An act we only understand through a divine messenger, who tells us this is God at work… Jesus is risen. An act that has formed the basis of Christian proclamation of the Good news of Jesus Christ for two Millennium ‘Jesus is risen, he is risen indeed.”

Mark finishes his account, by telling us that the women fled the empty tomb and didn’t tell anyone because they were afraid. There is irony in this as in Mark’s gospel people who Jesus healed  are told not to tell others about what Jesus has done, but do tell and here the women who are asked to tell of the empty tomb stay quite.

Maybe we can understand their reluctance as witnesses. They have not yet meet and seen and touched the risen Lord. In Jewish Society women’s testimony was not deemed reliable. Would they be believed? 

Perhaps their reluctance reflects a bit of our own. The empty tomb is a God event. It calls us to have faith. That Jesus own words about himself that he would die and be raised to life again are true.  To tell of the empty tomb is to acknowledge God’s witness to Jesus as his Son. Is to acknowledge the truth of all that Jesus life and death and resurrection has done for us, That God sent his son into this world to save us, to tell of his kingdom and demonstrate its reality in his healings, that he died on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven, that  we can be reconciled to God, and in being raise to life, that death and sin are defeated, that we too can know new and abundant life. The empty tomb changes everything.

While Mark chooses to finish his account of the resurrection there, we know that the women did not stay quite, that they did what they were told and went to the disciples and to Peter with the good news. Peter and John came to the tomb that day and found the amazing truth that it was empty. There is some debate over whether the second half of Mark 16, verses 9-20 are a later addition, but they tell us of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Jesus Christ.  An account of which we have in John’s gospel.  Where she is only convinced that Jesus has risen when she hears her voice. Mark tells us that she was not believed, at first. Mark also mentions the two on the road to Emmaus that Luke also tells us about. Then gives an account of Jesus meeting his disciples in galilee and giving them the great commission. Of course, in the other passage that we had read out to us today from 1 Corinthians 15 Paul gives us a run down of the many witnesses to Jesus resurrection, and in typical Jewish legal fashion he does not include the women.

You and I are also witnesses to the empty tomb and the risen Jesus. Two thousand years later the reality of Jesus death on the cross and the empty tomb are still impacting and changing lives. The Risen Christ still goes before us and meet with us by the Holy spirit, in a way that we know that he is alive. The facts and reality of the empty tomb are still here today and inviting people to answer Mark's question who is this Jesus, what does it mean that he is the messiah the son of God.  And we are commanded to witness to the empty tomb in our words and our lives. 

The empty tomb and the reluctant witnesses (Mark 16:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8)

빈무덤과 주저하는 목격자들

The Gospel of Mark reads very much like a mystery story.

마가복음은 신비한 이야기와 아주 흡사합니다.

Mark starts by telling us that this is the beginning of the good news about Jesus the messiah and the Son of God…

마가는 “하나님의 아들 예수 그리스도의 복음의 시작이라”는 말로 복음서를 시작합니다.

then in his fast paced telling of Jesus ministry and life, from his baptism by john to his crucifixion, you are invited to explore the question ‘who is Jesus?’ for yourself. 

그러면서 세례 요한에 의한 세례로부터 십자가의 죽음에 이르는 예수의 사역과 생애를 빠르게 이야기 하면서 여러분들로 자신에게 “예수는 누구신가?”라는 질문을 탐구하도록 이끕니다.

We along with the disciples and the crowd round Jesus are amazed and astounded at what Jesus says and does.  

우리는 예수님의 제자들과 주위에 있던 군중들처럼 예수님이 무엇을 말씀하시고 행하셨는가에  경탄하고 놀라워 합니다.

Who is this Jesus? What does it mean that he is the messiah, and the son of God?

이 예수는 누구십니까? 그분이 메시아요 하나님의 아들인 것이 무엇을 의미합니까?

That comes to a crescendo and a climax at the crucifixion, with the declaration of the Roman centurion.

이 질문은 로마 백부장의 고백으로 십자가의 죽음에서 최고조와 절정에 이르게 됩니다.

If you were to think of the gospel in cinematic terms, like a movie,

만일 여러분이 영화적인 측면에서 복음서를 생각했다면, 하나의 영화처럼

the centurion stares in to the camera lens and locks eyes with us, what movie makers call breaking the fourth wall,

제 4의 벽을 허물기, 즉 영화제작자가 관객과 배우 사이의 가상의 벽을 허물기라고 칭하는 것으로, 백부장은 카메라 렌즈를 응시하고 우리와 눈을 고정시킵니다,

and says “surely this was the son of God!”

그리고 “이 사람은 진실로 하나님의 아들이었도다” 라고 말합니다.

 if the centurion can come to that conclusion on simply the scene at the cross,

만일 백부장이 십자가의 장면에서 단순하게 그런 결론에 도달할 수 있다면,

then what is our conclusion as we have walked with Jesus through the gospel.

복음서를 통해 예수님과 동행했던 우리로서 우리의 결론은 무엇일까요?

The burial of Jesus and the actions of the women who had followed him and witnessed his death might then feel like a postscript a way to round out the story.

예수님의 장사됨과, 예수님을 따르고 그의 죽음을 목격했던 여인들의 행동은 이 이야기를 완성시키는 하나의 해설, 하나의 방식처럼 느낄 것입니다.

Except the story does not end there

이야기는 거기서 끝나지 않고

 and we are presented with one more amazing witness to who Jesus is, an empty tomb…

예수님이 누구신가에 대한 또 하나의 놀라운 증거인 빈무덤을 우리에게 제공합니다.

and the amazing news about what that means…

그리고 그것이 무엇을 의미하는지에 대한 놀라운 소식 입니다.

“Don’t be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” 

이 놀라운 소식은 “놀라지 말라, 너희가 십자가에 못 박히신 나사렛 예수를 찾는구나. 그는 살아나셨고 여기 계시지 아니하니라.(막 16:6)”라는 것입니다.

Three women who had been close to Jesus, had waited out the uneasy rest and inactivity of the sabbath,

예수님과 가까이 했던 세명의 여인들은 안식일 동안 편하게 쉬지도 못하고 활동도 할 수 없이 기다려야 했습니다.

 and now at the first light of the first day of the week they set off to finish the task of preparing Jesus Body.

그리고 안식 후 첫날 첫 새벽에 예수님의 시신을 위해 준비한 것을 완료하기 위해 출발했습니다.

Normally this would have been done before the burial,

보통 이 일은 장사되기 전에 행해져야 했겠지만

but we are told that as the day was ending, and it was sabbath the next day they had only been able to do the bare minimum for him.

날은 이미 저물었고 다음날은 안식일이였기에 그들이 할 수 있는 것은 예수의 시신을 천으로 싸는 것뿐이었습니다.

There is a sense that they are driven by both devotion;

그녀들이 이끌린 것은 두 가지 측면의 헌신입니다.  

wanting to do the right thing for the one who had done so much for them, and grief; that they have lost the one who was so important to them.

그들을 위하여 많은 일을 행하신 분을 위해 올바른 것을 하길 원하는 마음과, 비통함, 곧 그녀들에게 아주 소중했던 분을 잃었다는 깊은 슬픔입니다.

 That sense of grief comes to the fore as it is only as they are coming with their spices to the tomb, that they start to think who will roll the stone away for us.

그런 비통함은 여인들로 향품을 가지고 무덤을 향하여 가면서 조차 ‘누가 우리를 위해 돌을 굴려 줄 수 있을까’를 생각하는 것에 주목하게 했습니다.

Tomb’s were sealed with large stones to stop them being opened and reused illegally by other people.

무덤은  여인들이 열지도 못하고, 다른 사람들에 의해 불법적으로 재사용하지 못하도록 큰 바위로 막혀 있었습니다. 

There is no expectation for these women other than that Jesus is dead and they find themselves in the hopeless situation of what to do with the stone. 

그녀들에게는 예수님은 돌아가셨다는 것과 자신들은 그 큰 바위를 어떻게 해야할 지 모르는 절망적인 상황속에 있는 모습을 볼 뿐 어떤 기대도 없었습니다.

We are invited to share in the surprise of the women, they were not expecting that.

그러나, 여인들이 기대하지 못했던 놀라운 사건에 참여하도록 우리를 이끕니다.

They go in(, but) Jesus body is not there.

그녀들은 무덤속에 들어갔지만, 예수님의 시신은 거기에 없었습니다.

They encounter rather a young man dressed in white.

다만 그녀들은 흰 옷 입은 젊은 사람과 마주칩니다.

For Mark’s first century Jewish readers this would have told them he was an angel,

마가가 살았던 일세기 유대인 독자들에게는 그가 천사였다고 알려졌습니다.

but that is downplayed to emphasise his amazing news. ‘Jesus the Nazarene is risen he is not here!’

그러나, 그 사실은 그가 전한 놀라운 소식, “나사렛 예수는 살아나셨고, 여기에 계시지 아니하다”라는 것을 강조하기 위함입니다. 

The women are invited to see the place where they laid him!

여인들에게는 그들이 예수님을 두었던 그 장소를 보도록 초청되었습니다.

Then go and tell the disciples and Peter, ‘he is going ahead of you into galilee. There you will see him just as he told you.”

그리고 가서 제자들과 베드로에게 전하라는 것입니다. “예수께서 너희보다 먼저 갈릴리로 가시나니, 전에 말씀하신 대로 너희가 거기서 뵈오리라.”

Mark does not mention the earthquake or the angels rolling the stone away, he wants to focus on the facts, (Jesus’s resurrection and the empty tomb).

마가는 지진이나 천사들이 돌을 굴려놓은 것을 언급하지 않습니다. 다만 그는 (예수님이 부활하셨고 무덤은 비어 있었다는)그 사실에 초점을 두는 것입니다.

None of the gospels tell us the how of the resurrection happened,

어떤 복음서도 어떻게 부활이 일어났는지 우리에게 말하지 않습니다.

which is the one thing I guess our twenty first century minds would love to know,

내가 생각하기에 이것은21세기를 살아가는 우리들이 그것을 알고 싶어하는 것 일수도 있습니다.

(but) we are simply left to see the stone rolled away and the empty tomb as an act of God.

하지만, 우리에게 단순히 남겨진 것은 하나님의 한 일하심으로써 옮겨진 돌과 빈 무덤을 보는 것입니다.

An act we only understand through a divine messenger, who tells us this is God at work… Jesus is risen.

하나님이 일하신다라고 우리에게 전해주는 하나님의 사자를 통하여 우리가 이해하는 이 일하심은  “예수님은 부활하셨다”는 것입니다.

An act that has formed the basis of Christian proclamation of the Good news of Jesus Christ for two Millennium ‘Jesus is risen, he is risen indeed.”

지난2천동안 예수 그리스도의 기쁜 소식으로 기독교인의 선포의 근거를 형성한 이 일하심이 바로 “예수님은 부활하셨다, 그는 참으로 부활하셨다”라는 것입니다.

Mark finishes his account, by telling us that the women fled the empty tomb and didn’t tell anyone because they were afraid.

마가는 여인들이 빈무덤에서 도망치고 두려움 때문에 아무에게도 말하지 않았다고 하면서 그의 기록을 마칩니다.

There is irony in this as in Mark’s gospel people who Jesus healed  are told not to tell others about what Jesus has done, but do tell and here the women who are asked to tell of the empty tomb stay quite.  

여기에는 풍장하는 것이 있습니다. 마가복음에는 예수님께 고침 받은 사람들에게 예수님께서 무엇을 하셨는지 아무에게도 말하지 말라고 하셨지만 그들은 나가서 전파했습니다. 하지만 여기서 여인들은 빈무덤에 대하여 가서 말하라고 전달받았지만, 잠잠했습니다.  

Maybe we can understand their reluctance as witnesses.

어쩌면 우리는 목격자들로서 여인들의 주저함을 이해할 수 있을 것입니다.

They have not yet meet and seen and touched the risen Lord.

여인들은 아직 부활하신 주님을 만나지도 보지도 만지지도 못했습니다.

 In Jewish Society women’s testimony was not deemed reliable. Would they be believed? 

유대인 사회에서 여인들의 증거는 신뢰할 수 없는 것으로 생각되었습니다. 그런 사회속에서 여인들의 증거를 그들이 믿을 수 있었겠습니까?

Perhaps their reluctance reflects a bit of our own.

아마도 여인들의 주저함은 어느 정도 우리 자신을 나타냅니다.

The empty tomb is a God’s event. It calls us to have faith.

빈무덤은 하나님의 하나의 중요한 사건으로, 우리의 믿음을 요구합니다.

That Jesus own words about himself that he would die and be raised to life again are true.

죽었다가 다시 살아나실 것이라고 자신에 대해 하신 예수님의 말씀은 사실입니다.

To tell of the empty tomb is to acknowledge God’s witness to Jesus as his Son.

빈무덤을 말하는 것은 예수가 자신의 아들이라는 하나님의 증거를 인정하는 것입니다.

 Is to acknowledge the truth of all that Jesus life and death and resurrection has done for us,

빈무덤을 말하는 것은 우리를 위해 행하신 예수님의 삶과 죽음과 부활이 진리임을 인정하는 것입니다.

That God sent his son into this world to save us, to tell of his kingdom and demonstrate its reality in his healings,

그것은 또한 하나님께서 우리를 구원하시기 위해, 그의 나라에 대해 말씀하시기 위해, 그리고 병을 치료하심으로 하나님의 나라의 실제함을 나타내시기 위해  그의 아들을 이 세상에 보내셨음이 진실임을 인정하는 것입니다.

that he died on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven,

그것은 예수 그리스도가 십자가에서 죽으셨고, 그래서 우리의 죄는 용서될 수 있다는 것이 진실임을 인정하는 것입니다.

that  we can be reconciled to God, and in being raise to life, that death and sin are defeated, that we too can know new and abundant life.

그것은 우리는 하나님과 관계가 회복되어 질 수 있고, 죽음에서 부활하심으로 죽음과 죄는 정복되었고, 우리 역시 새롭고도 풍성한 삶을 알 수 있다는 것이 진실임을 인정하는 것입니다.

The empty tomb changes everything.

빈무덤은 모든 것을 변화시킵니다.

While Mark chooses to finish his account of the resurrection there, we know that the women did not stay quite, 여자들이 아무말도 하지 못했다는 것으로 마가는 부활의 기록을 마치고 있습니다. 하지만 우리는 여인들이 입을 다문 채로 있지 않았음을 압니다.

that they did what they were told and went to the disciples and to Peter with the good news.

여인들은 자신들 이 명령 받은 대로 했습니다. 기쁜 소식을 가지고 제자들과 베드로에게 가서 전했습니다.

Peter and John came to the tomb that day and found the amazing truth that it was empty.

그날 베드로와 요한은 무덤으로 달려가서 무덤이 비었다는 놀라운 진실을 발견했습니다.

There is some debate over whether the second half of Mark 16, verses 9-20 are a later addition,

마가복음 16장 9-20절이 후에 첨가된 것인지에 대하여 약간의 논쟁이 있습니다.

but they tell us of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Jesus Christ. An account of which we have in John’s gospel.

하지만 이 구절들은 부활하신 예수 그리스도를 만나는 막달라 마리아에 대하여 말해주며, 이 기록을 우리는 요한복음에서 볼 수 있습니다.

Where she is only convinced that Jesus has risen when she hears his voice.

여기서 막달라 마리아가 예수님이 부활하셨음을 유일하게 깨닫게 된 것은 예수님의 목소리를 들었을 때 입니다.

Mark tells us that she was not believed, at first.

마가는 막달라 마리아도 처음에는 믿지 못했다고 말합니다.

Mark also mentions the two on the road to Emmaus that LUKE also tells us about(Luke 24:13-35).

마가는 또한 누가복음에도 기록되어 있는 엠마오로 향하는 두 제자를 언급합니다.

Then gives an account of Jesus meeting his disciples in galilee and giving them the great commission.

그리고 마가는  갈릴리에서 제자들을 만나 그들에게 지상명령을 주시는 예수님에 대해 기록합니다.

Of course, in the other passage that we had read out to us today from 1 Corinthians 15 Paul gives us a run down of the many witnesses to Jesus resurrection, and in typical Jewish legal fashion he does not include the women.

물론, 우리가 오늘 읽은 고린도전서 15장과 같은 구절에서 바울은 예수님의 부활에 대한 수 많은 목격자들이 있음을 보여줍니다.  그리고 전형적인 유대인의 법적인 관습에 따라 바울은 여인들을 포함시키지 않았지만 말입니다.

You and I are also witnesses to the empty tomb and the risen Jesus.

여러분과 저 또한 빈 무덤과 부활하신 예수님의 증인들입니다.

Two thousand years later the reality of Jesus death on the cross and the empty tomb are still impacting and changing lives.

2천년이 지난 지금도 십자가위에서 예수님의 죽음의 실제성과 빈 무덤은 사람들에게 영향을 미치고 삶을 변화시키고 있습니다.

The Risen Christ still goes before us and meet with us by the Holy spirit, in a way that we know that he is alive.

부활하신 그리스도는 우리 앞서 행하시고, 우리로 그분이 살아계심을 알 수 있도록 성령을 통해 우리를 만나주십니다.

 The facts and reality of the empty tomb are still here today and inviting people to answer Marks question who this Jesus is,

빈 무덤의 사실과 실제성은 오늘날도 여기에 있고, 사람들에게 이 예수님이 누구신가라는 마가의 질문에 답할 것을 촉구합니다.

(What is your answer? He is ) the messiah the son of God.    

여러분은 무엇이라고 답변하시겠습니까? 그분은 메시아, 하나님의 아들이십니다.